Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Plainview has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 1% work in Plainview itself; outside it, Knoxville draws the most (34%, 17 miles). There are 66 jobs in Plainview, against 806 working residents. The two grades for Plainview are B for jobs and income and D− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Plainview, in brief
Plainview is a place people come home to
There are 66 jobs based in Plainview, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Plainview has about 1,500 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Plainview works in Knoxville
274 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Knoxville, 17 miles away. That’s 34 times as many as work in Plainview itself. The commute map ↓
Plainview workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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; with 806 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Plainview’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Plainview is better than 58% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Plainview’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($63,965, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plainview could be anywhere from C to A−.
How a workday changes Plainview
On a workday 797 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Plainview on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
Where the trip to work from Plainview ends
Where Plainview clocks in
34% of workers
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.
The daily trip from Plainview: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plainview workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,190 commuters (the 6% 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.
Jobs in Plainview: what the 66 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plainview, 2013 → 2023: 57 → 66. 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 Plainview’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Plainview
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.
Few in Plainview walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plainview is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Plainview 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 1,263 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). 1.3% of Plainview households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Plainview’s commuters take a bus or train.
Plainview next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100: 1,843rd of 5,328 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,841 | New London IA | 1,850 | $78K | 8.4% | 2.6% | 8% | B |
| 1,842 | Carthage TN | 2,282 | $67K | 8.3% | 1.3% | 11% | B |
| 1,843 | Plainview TN | 2,263 | $64K | 10.7% | 2.1% | 1% | B |
| 1,844 | Grottoes VA | 3,099 | $100K | 9.0% | 4.8% | 2% | B |
| 1,845 | East Brookfield MA | 2,231 | $81K | 7.1% | 5.1% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Plainview, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
The towns around Plainview
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Plainview’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 Plainview: questions
What is the median household income in Plainview?
$63,965 (±$7,139) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plainview?
10.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plainview?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plainview work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (34%, 17 mi), Maynardville (6%, 5 mi), Oak Ridge (5%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plainview walkable?
Plainview is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plainview without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plainview, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plainview
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.