Photo: Ballinindasierra · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Savannah earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
About one in three stay in Savannah for work; outside it, Jackson is the main destination (6%, 45 miles). Below the poverty line: 29.8% of residents, next to 13.8% across Tennessee. Jobs and income earn Savannah D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Savannah and work: the main findings
Savannah is where the jobs are
Savannah has 4,131 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Savannah’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Savannah is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #154 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Savannah’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($39,712, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Savannah could be anywhere from D− to C.
Savannah fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,783 residents head out to work, 885 work right here, and 3,246 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,200 people are in Savannah on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
How far it is to work from Savannah
About 30% 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.
Where the people who work in Savannah live
Where Savannah clocks in
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.
What the 4,131 jobs in Savannah are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Savannah, 2013 → 2023: 4,410 → 4,131. 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 Savannah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Savannah: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Savannah workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,464 commuters (the 5% 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.
Savannah is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Savannah is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #105 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 2,604 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). 7.4% of Savannah households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Savannah’s commuters take a bus or train.
Savannah next to U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,838 | Poteau OK | 9,171 | $51K | 19.8% | 6.1% | 34% | D |
| 2,839 | Seneca SC | 9,424 | $52K | 22.1% | 8.9% | 8% | D |
| 2,840 | Savannah TN | 7,689 | $40K | 29.8% | 4.5% | 33% | D |
| 2,841 | Warren Township OH | 5,554 | $53K | 23.0% | 5.2% | 24% | D |
| 2,842 | International Falls MN | 5,481 | $58K | 13.3% | 7.7% | 65% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,051 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Savannah, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Around Savannah: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Savannah’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 Savannah: questions
What is the median household income in Savannah?
$39,712 (±$8,350) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Savannah?
29.8%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Savannah?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Savannah work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (6%, 45 mi), Memphis (5%, 98 mi), Nashville (4%, 104 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Savannah walkable?
Savannah is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Savannah without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Savannah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Savannah
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.