Photo: Dclemens1971 · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Lone Oak trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 14.8% (Tennessee 13.8%). For jobs and income Lone Oak is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−). Hardly any work in Lone Oak; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (41%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lone Oak, in brief
Lone Oak is a place people come home to
There are 29 jobs based in Lone Oak, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lone Oak has about 990 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
41% of Lone Oak works in Chattanooga
190 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Chattanooga, 12 miles away. That’s far more as work in Lone Oak itself. The commute map ↓
Lone Oak workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 460 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Lone Oak’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Lone Oak’s grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($40,781, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Lone Oak’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lone Oak could be anywhere from D to B+.
The daily flow of workers through Lone Oak
On a workday 459 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 28 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Lone Oak on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.06 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Lone Oak work
Where Lone Oak clocks in
41% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from Lone Oak: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lone Oak workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 374 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Lone Oak is a services town
29 jobs are based in Lone Oak.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lone Oak, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 29. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lone Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Lone Oak
About 24% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Lone Oak commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lone Oak is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lone Oak near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 445 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.5% of Lone Oak households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lone Oak’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lone Oak places 3,925th of 5,877 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 422 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Berry Hill TN | 1,864 | $80K | 11.2% | 3.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,923 | Lenroot WI | 1,395 | $64K | 9.5% | 4.8% | 4% | C− |
| 3,924 | Byron WI | 1,245 | $77K | 16.5% | 10.7% | 4% | C− |
| 3,925 | Lone Oak TN | 1,422 | $41K | 14.8% | 0.0% | <1% | C− |
| 3,926 | Osgood IN | 1,602 | $53K | 9.7% | 5.1% | 9% | C− |
| 3,927 | Chinook MT | 1,155 | $62K | 8.4% | 6.2% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lone Oak, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Work in the towns next to Lone Oak
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Lone Oak’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lone Oak: questions
What is the median household income in Lone Oak?
$40,781 (±$36,587) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lone Oak?
14.8%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lone Oak?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lone Oak work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (41%, 12 mi), Dunlap (11%, 12 mi), Nashville (5%, 104 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lone Oak walkable?
Lone Oak is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lone Oak without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lone Oak, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lone Oak
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.