Household incomes in McEwen are lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole. 9.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.8% for Tennessee as a whole. Jobs and income earn McEwen C−; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in McEwen: the gist
Many jobs in McEwen pay little
41% of the jobs based in McEwen pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 39% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside McEwen
54% of McEwen residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 25% of the jobs based in McEwen pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
McEwen workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 69 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 560 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How McEwen earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, McEwen is better than 21% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds McEwen’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (16.6%) is left out: McEwen’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, McEwen could be anywhere from D to C+.
Jobs in McEwen: what the 328 are
328 jobs are based in McEwen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McEwen, 2013 → 2023: 268 → 328. 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 McEwen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 35 minutes from McEwen
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McEwen workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 725 commuters (the 3% 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 McEwen
On a workday 520 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 288 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in McEwen on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
23% of working residents work in Dickson
Where McEwen clocks in
23% of workers
6% 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.
Half of McEwen commutes less than 17 miles
About 21% 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.
For most of McEwen, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McEwen is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Tennessee.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 749 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). 7.1% of McEwen households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McEwen’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400, McEwen ranks 3,726th of 5,343 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,724 | Akron CO | 1,725 | $57K | 7.5% | 1.9% | 32% | C− |
| 3,725 | Bel-Ridge MO | 2,070 | $38K | 17.7% | 15.9% | 2% | C− |
| 3,726 | McEwen TN | 1,790 | $61K | 9.6% | 16.6% | 7% | C− |
| 3,727 | Lusk WY | 1,421 | $69K | 10.3% | 4.9% | 44% | C− |
| 3,728 | Lamard Township IL | 1,324 | $69K | 12.2% | 1.9% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 McEwen, 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 McEwen: questions
What is the median household income in McEwen?
$60,781 (±$8,651) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McEwen?
9.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McEwen?
35 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McEwen work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dickson (23%, 15 mi), Waverly (6%, 8 mi), Nashville (5%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McEwen walkable?
McEwen is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McEwen without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McEwen, from the people who make the trip.
More of McEwen
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.