Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Smyrna (5.0%) than in 61% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Smyrna itself; outside it, Nashville draws the most (34%, 20 miles). Smyrna grades B for jobs and income and C for walkability. The trip to work takes 26 minutes on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Smyrna stands out on work
Smyrna makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Smyrna are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Smyrna residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
One in three of Smyrna works in Nashville
9,139 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Nashville, 20 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Smyrna itself. The commute map ↓
Smyrna has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Smyrna went from 23,372 in 2013 to 32,275 in 2023, +38%. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Smyrna
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Smyrna is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #57 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Smyrna’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Smyrna could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Goods jobs make up 49% of work in Smyrna
32,275 jobs are based in Smyrna.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smyrna, 2013 → 2023: 23,372 → 32,275. 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 Smyrna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Smyrna: the destinations
Where Smyrna clocks in
10% 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 commutes out of Smyrna, and who commutes in
On a workday 22,752 residents head out to work, 3,847 work right here, and 28,428 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Smyrna’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smyrna workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,037 commuters (the 13% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Smyrna
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 Smyrna walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Smyrna is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #99 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of 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 29,920 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 5% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 3.7% of Smyrna households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Smyrna’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 44,000 to 85,000, Smyrna ranks 429th of 709 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Brentwood TN | 45,313 | $182K | 3.6% | 2.6% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Spring Hill TN | 61,336 | $112K | 4.3% | 2.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Collierville TN | 51,909 | $139K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Haverhill MA | 68,361 | $88K | 11.3% | 5.7% | 17% | B |
| 428 | DeLand FL | 46,346 | $72K | 11.0% | 3.5% | 22% | B |
| 429 | Smyrna TN | 63,321 | $82K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 14% | B |
| 430 | Maricopa AZ | 78,362 | $96K | 7.4% | 5.0% | 8% | B |
| 431 | Revere MA | 60,141 | $87K | 11.5% | 7.0% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 709 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Smyrna, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Work next door: 18% of Smyrna’s workers
The biggest share goes to Murfreesboro (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Smyrna workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smyrna | – | B | C | 26 min | $81,926 |
| La Vergne | 8% | B+ | C− | 32 min | $81,313 |
| Murfreesboro | 10% | B+ | B− | 27 min | $80,108 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Smyrna’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 Smyrna: questions
What is the median household income in Smyrna?
$81,926 (±$4,555) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smyrna?
12.5%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smyrna?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smyrna work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (34%, 20 mi), Murfreesboro (10%, 10 mi), La Vergne (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Smyrna walkable?
Smyrna is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Smyrna without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smyrna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smyrna
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.