Most of Midtown commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Midtown has 179 jobs, against 526 working residents. The two grades for Midtown are B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Home is the office for 4% of workers, where Tennessee as a whole has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Midtown: the figures worth knowing
The figures behind Midtown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Midtown is better than 48% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Midtown’s grade up (8.3%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($61,154, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (6.1%) is left out: Midtown’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Midtown could be anywhere from C− to A.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Tennessee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Midtown workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 500 commuters (the 4% 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 daily flow of workers through Midtown
On a workday 521 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 174 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Midtown on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Oak Ridge
Where Midtown clocks in
20% of workers
15% of workers
7% 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 Midtown: what the 179 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Midtown, 2013 → 2023: 232 → 179. 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 Midtown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Midtown’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In Midtown, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Midtown is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 522 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). 26.6% of Midtown households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Midtown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,400 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,800, Midtown comes 1,992nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 825 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 921 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,990 | Dollar Point CA | 1,477 | $77K | 3.5% | 8.8% | 8% | B− |
| 1,991 | Ama LA | 1,483 | $73K | 17.7% | 2.3% | 2% | B− |
| 1,992 | Midtown TN | 1,369 | $61K | 8.3% | 6.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,993 | Hamilton IN | 1,559 | $70K | 7.3% | 3.5% | 6% | B− |
| 1,994 | Calverton Park MO | 1,134 | $68K | 21.0% | 10.7% | 0% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Midtown, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
How Midtown compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Harriman (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Midtown’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 Midtown: questions
What is the median household income in Midtown?
$61,154 (±$28,606) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Midtown?
8.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Midtown?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Midtown work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Ridge (20%, 17 mi), Knoxville (15%, 36 mi), Harriman (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Midtown walkable?
Midtown is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Midtown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 27% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Midtown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Midtown
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.