About two in three of Middle Valley’s working residents commute to Chattanooga
Only 1% stay in Middle Valley for work; outside it, Chattanooga is the main destination (63%, 9 miles). The two grades for Middle Valley are A− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 73% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Middle Valley: the figures worth knowing
More than half of Middle Valley works in Chattanooga
3,121 working residents, 63%, have their main job in Chattanooga, 9.1 miles away across the town line. That’s 63 times as many as work in Middle Valley itself. The commute map ↓
Middle Valley is a place people come home to
There are 510 jobs based in Middle Valley, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Middle Valley has about 7,800 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Middle Valley
61% of Middle Valley residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Middle Valley pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Middle Valley are held by workers 29 or younger, against 23% of Middle Valley’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Middle Valley
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Middle Valley is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #36 of 177 in Tennessee. The poverty rate is its strongest input (5.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Middle Valley could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Middle Valley’s working residents head each day
Where Middle Valley clocks in
63% 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.
Who leaves Middle Valley for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,881 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 456 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,800 people are in Middle Valley on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
A place that makes things: 31% of Middle Valley’s jobs are in goods
510 jobs are based in Middle Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middle Valley, 2013 → 2023: 268 → 510. 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 Middle Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Middle Valley takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middle Valley workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,989 commuters (the 19% 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 Middle Valley
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.
For most of Middle Valley, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middle Valley is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns, #163 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Middle Valley 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 6,140 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.3% of Middle Valley households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Middle Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,151 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 16,000, Middle Valley comes 733rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 731 | Fairmount Township KS | 12,817 | $122K | 6.7% | 5.3% | 7% | A− |
| 732 | Cornwall NY | 12,577 | $115K | 5.2% | 5.0% | 12% | A− |
| 733 | Middle Valley TN | 12,187 | $95K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 1% | A− |
| 734 | Clayton CA | 10,842 | $176K | 2.5% | 6.7% | 3% | A− |
| 735 | Hartland WI | 10,740 | $88K | 5.2% | 4.8% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,151 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Middle Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Work next door: 66% of Middle Valley’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middle Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Valley | – | A− | D | 24 min | $95,000 |
| Chattanooga | 63% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $64,523 |
| Lakesite | 1% | A− | D | 28 min | $96,250 |
| Soddy-Daisy | 2% | B− | C− | 27 min | $75,113 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chattanooga. Darker towns draw more of Middle Valley’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 Middle Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Middle Valley?
$95,000 (±$10,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middle Valley?
5.0%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middle Valley?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middle Valley work?
1% work in town.
Is Middle Valley walkable?
Middle Valley is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middle Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Middle Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middle Valley
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.