Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Martin trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Martin itself; outside it, Union City draws the most (12%, 12 miles). 26.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.8% across Tennessee. The two grades for Martin are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Martin, in brief
Commutes from Martin are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Martin is where the jobs are
Martin has 6,362 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Martin draws workers from far and wide
The 6,362 jobs in Martin are filled from a wide area. Martin’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A young workforce
31% of Martin’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
Inside Martin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Martin is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #166 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Martin’s grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($43,381, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Martin could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Time on the road from Martin: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Martin workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,600 commuters (the 7% 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.
How a workday changes Martin
On a workday 2,412 residents head out to work, 1,248 work right here, and 5,114 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Martin on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Martin’s workers come from
Where Martin clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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 6,362 jobs based in Martin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Martin, 2013 → 2023: 6,374 → 6,362. 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 Martin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Martin
About 25% 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.
Martin is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Martin is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #10 of 177 in Tennessee. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,967 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). 10.0% of Martin households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Martin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Martin sits among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,430 | Toccoa GA | 9,539 | $48K | 23.9% | 8.8% | 18% | D |
| 2,431 | Lock Haven PA | 8,500 | $46K | 20.9% | 11.2% | 16% | D |
| 2,432 | Martin TN | 11,060 | $43K | 26.3% | 6.4% | 34% | D |
| 2,433 | Douglas GA | 11,864 | $34K | 29.7% | 6.4% | 47% | D |
| 2,434 | Orangeburg SC | 13,383 | $39K | 32.6% | 11.8% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Martin, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Martin: questions
What is the median household income in Martin?
$43,381 (±$8,223) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Martin?
26.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Martin?
14 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Martin work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union City (12%, 12 mi), Dresden (7%, 9 mi), Jackson (5%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Martin walkable?
Martin is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Martin without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Martin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Martin
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.