Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Seymour has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
1,881 jobs are based in Seymour; 6,589 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Seymour are B+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 4% work in Seymour; the top destination outside it is Knoxville (28%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Seymour in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Seymour
57% of Seymour residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 30% of the jobs based in Seymour pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Seymour is a place people come home to
There are 1,881 jobs based in Seymour, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Seymour has about 12,000 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Seymour has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Seymour went from 1,348 in 2013 to 1,881 in 2023, +40%. The jobs ↓
28% of Seymour works in Knoxville
1,859 working residents, 28%, have their main job in Knoxville, 12 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Seymour itself. The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Seymour pay little
26% of the jobs based in Seymour pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 33% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Seymour’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Seymour is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #39 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Seymour could be anywhere from B− to A.
The kinds of work in Seymour
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seymour, 2013 → 2023: 1,348 → 1,881. 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 Seymour’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Seymour, and who commutes in
On a workday 6,355 residents head out to work, 234 work right here, and 1,647 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Seymour on a workday afternoon, 29% 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 people from Seymour work
Where Seymour clocks in
28% of workers
12% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Seymour
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seymour workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,377 commuters (the 11% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Seymour
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.
Driving is how Seymour gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seymour is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #131 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Seymour 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 7,203 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). 1.2% of Seymour households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Seymour’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000, Seymour comes 912th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 354 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Sycamore Township IL | 15,039 | $87K | 7.5% | 3.3% | 15% | B+ |
| 911 | East Lampeter Township PA | 18,814 | $87K | 9.5% | 3.3% | 12% | B+ |
| 912 | Seymour TN | 16,216 | $83K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 4% | B+ |
| 913 | Beekman NY | 14,358 | $126K | 5.9% | 4.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 914 | Mill Valley CA | 13,799 | $206K | 5.9% | 8.8% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Seymour, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Seymour: questions
What is the median household income in Seymour?
$82,855 (±$14,958) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seymour?
8.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seymour?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seymour work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (28%, 12 mi), Sevierville (12%, 10 mi), Pigeon Forge (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Seymour walkable?
Seymour is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seymour without a car?
<1% 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 Seymour, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seymour
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.