Woodland Baptist Church · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Jackson draws about half of Mercer’s working residents
Only 1% work in Mercer; the top destination outside it is Jackson (45%, 17 miles). For 0% of workers, the job is at home (Tennessee 13%). There are 11 jobs in Mercer; 71 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mercer quiets down on a workday
On a workday 70 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 10 people come in from elsewhere.
About 68 people are in Mercer on a workday afternoon, 47% fewer than live here.
0.15 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.
Where people from Mercer work
Where Mercer clocks in
45% of workers
10% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Mercer
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mercer, 2013 → 2023: 6 → 11. 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 Mercer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Mercer
of Mercer workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 89 commuters (the 0% 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.
Miles to work from Mercer
About 19% 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.
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 Mercer: questions
What is the poverty rate in Mercer?
7.8%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Mercer work?
1% work in town.
Can you get around Mercer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mercer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mercer
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.