Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Memphis (8.3%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.4 in Nashville. Memphis grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Memphis, in brief
Most jobs in Memphis go to people who live here
Of the 379,595 jobs based in Memphis, 47% are held by Memphis residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Memphis is where the jobs are
Memphis has 379,595 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Memphis are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 38 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 Memphis earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Memphis is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #127 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Memphis’ grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Memphis could be anywhere from C− to C.
Memphis fills up on a workday
On a workday 69,848 residents head out to work, 178,244 work right here, and 201,351 people come in from elsewhere.
About 741,000 people are in Memphis on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Tennessee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Memphis workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 249,117 commuters (the 9% 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.
Commuting in to Memphis: where workers come from
Where Memphis clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in Memphis: what the 379,595 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Memphis, 2013 → 2023: 389,145 → 379,595. 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 Memphis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Memphis
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Memphis
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Memphis is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #8 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 274,260 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 84% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.3% of Memphis households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Memphis’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
U.S. towns of 427,000 to 823,000, and where Memphis sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hempstead NY | 795,734 | $141K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 28% | A |
| 2 | Seattle WA | 784,777 | $124K | 9.9% | 4.6% | 60% | A− |
| 3 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Nashville TN | 745,904 | $78K | 13.9% | 4.5% | 63% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Milwaukee WI | 562,407 | $54K | 22.8% | 6.2% | 45% | C |
| 29 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 57% | C |
| 30 | Memphis TN | 609,647 | $52K | 23.1% | 8.3% | 72% | C− |
| 31 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Memphis, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Bordering towns draw 10% of Memphis’ workers
The biggest share goes to Bartlett (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Memphis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | – | C− | A− | 21 min | $51,736 |
| Germantown | 2% | A+ | C+ | 22 min | $149,920 |
| Bartlett | 3% | A | C+ | 24 min | $102,070 |
| Lakeland | under 1% | A | C | 26 min | $116,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Memphis’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 Memphis: questions
What is the median household income in Memphis?
$51,736 (±$1,072) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Memphis?
23.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Memphis?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Memphis work?
72% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olive Branch (3%, 13 mi), Collierville (3%, 16 mi), Bartlett (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Memphis walkable?
Memphis is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Memphis without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Memphis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Memphis
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.