Photo: Snickersnack30 · CC BY-SA 3.0McKenzie’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
McKenzie grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. 21.2% of residents live below the poverty line; Tennessee has 13.8%. About one in five stay in McKenzie for work; outside it, Huntingdon is the main destination (8%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where McKenzie stands out on work
McKenzie trades workers with the towns around it
McKenzie has about as many jobs (1,926) as working residents (2,118), but they are mostly different people: 1,667 residents leave for work each day while 1,475 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in McKenzie are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in McKenzie than ten years ago
Jobs counted in McKenzie fell from 3,325 in 2013 to 1,926 in 2023, −42%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from McKenzie are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in McKenzie
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McKenzie is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #144 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds McKenzie’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($37,236, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McKenzie could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily commute in and out of McKenzie
On a workday 1,667 residents head out to work, 451 work right here, and 1,475 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Inside McKenzie’s 1,926 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McKenzie, 2013 → 2023: 3,325 → 1,926. 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 McKenzie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from McKenzie: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McKenzie workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,056 commuters (the 8% 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.
The places McKenzie commutes to
Where McKenzie clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from McKenzie
About 27% 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.
McKenzie 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, McKenzie is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #2 of 177 in Tennessee. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,240 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). 10.8% of McKenzie households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McKenzie’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, McKenzie is 3,081st among 3,561 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,079 | Elberton GA | 4,890 | $50K | 25.7% | 3.9% | 22% | C− |
| 3,080 | Rushville IN | 6,171 | $53K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 25% | C− |
| 3,081 | McKenzie TN | 5,632 | $37K | 21.2% | 4.0% | 21% | C− |
| 3,082 | Cascade Valley WA | 4,609 | $61K | 12.6% | 8.7% | 1% | C− |
| 3,083 | Ada OH | 4,985 | $62K | 31.5% | 8.9% | 20% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 McKenzie, 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 McKenzie: questions
What is the median household income in McKenzie?
$37,236 (±$11,430) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McKenzie?
21.2%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McKenzie?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McKenzie work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Huntingdon (8%, 10 mi), Nashville (8%, 96 mi), Paris (8%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McKenzie walkable?
McKenzie is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McKenzie without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McKenzie, from the people who make the trip.
More of McKenzie
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.