Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in McMinnville trail those of 91% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 20.7% of residents, next to 13.8% for Tennessee as a whole. McMinnville grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in five work in McMinnville; the top destination outside it is Nashville (11%, 65 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in McMinnville, in brief
McMinnville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside McMinnville is Nashville, 65 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (626) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
McMinnville draws workers from far and wide
The 7,348 jobs in McMinnville are filled from a wide area. McMinnville’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 9%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside McMinnville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McMinnville is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #164 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds McMinnville’s grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (9.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McMinnville could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Half of McMinnville commutes less than 30 miles
About 31% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Commuting out of McMinnville: the destinations
Where McMinnville clocks in
6% 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.
Who leaves McMinnville for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,445 residents head out to work, 1,298 work right here, and 6,050 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in McMinnville on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What McMinnville’s employers do
7,348 jobs are based in McMinnville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McMinnville, 2014 → 2024: 7,296 → 7,348. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs McMinnville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for McMinnville’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McMinnville workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,887 commuters (the 10% 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.
Most trips from McMinnville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McMinnville is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #56 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place McMinnville 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 5,435 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). 7.6% of McMinnville households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McMinnville’s commuters take a bus or train.
McMinnville next to U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 338 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,169 | Benton Township MI | 14,228 | $39K | 33.1% | 12.1% | 22% | D |
| 2,170 | Susanville CA | 12,816 | $62K | 17.6% | 9.3% | 54% | D |
| 2,171 | McMinnville TN | 13,943 | $47K | 20.7% | 9.0% | 23% | D |
| 2,172 | Kewanee IL | 12,115 | $51K | 17.9% | 8.9% | 39% | D |
| 2,173 | Somerset KY | 12,695 | $35K | 27.2% | 8.7% | 46% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 McMinnville, 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 2024, 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 McMinnville: questions
What is the median household income in McMinnville?
$47,179 (±$7,124) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McMinnville?
20.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McMinnville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McMinnville work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (11%, 65 mi), Murfreesboro (6%, 38 mi), Morrison (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is McMinnville walkable?
McMinnville is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McMinnville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McMinnville, from the people who make the trip.
More of McMinnville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.