Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0For more than half of its working residents, Soddy-Daisy is a commute to Chattanooga
Soddy-Daisy grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average, where Tennessee has 26 and the U.S. 26. There are 2,731 jobs in Soddy-Daisy, and 5,223 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Soddy-Daisy, in a few figures
Why Soddy-Daisy gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Soddy-Daisy is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #68 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Soddy-Daisy’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Soddy-Daisy could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Out of Soddy-Daisy to work: where people go
Where Soddy-Daisy clocks in
58% of workers
2% 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 commute in and out of Soddy-Daisy
On a workday 4,941 residents head out to work, 282 work right here, and 2,449 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Soddy-Daisy on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.52 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The kinds of work in Soddy-Daisy
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Soddy-Daisy, 2013 → 2023: 2,520 → 2,731. 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 Soddy-Daisy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Soddy-Daisy, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Soddy-Daisy workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,464 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Soddy-Daisy
About 19% 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.
The commute in Soddy-Daisy is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Soddy-Daisy is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #142 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Soddy-Daisy 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 6,113 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.7% of Soddy-Daisy households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Soddy-Daisy’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Soddy-Daisy is 1,498th of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,496 | Moreau NY | 16,818 | $81K | 12.8% | 3.5% | 11% | B− |
| 1,497 | Whitefish MT | 9,358 | $74K | 9.4% | 2.4% | 37% | B− |
| 1,498 | Soddy-Daisy TN | 13,474 | $75K | 7.4% | 6.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,499 | Otter Creek Township IN | 9,001 | $72K | 12.2% | 2.5% | 7% | B− |
| 1,500 | Adelphi MD | 17,395 | $82K | 16.2% | 6.0% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Soddy-Daisy, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
The towns next door employ 58% of Soddy-Daisy
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Soddy-Daisy workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soddy-Daisy | – | B− | C− | 27 min | $75,113 |
| Falling Water | under 1% | A | C | 26 min | $111,842 |
| Mowbray Mountain | under 1% | B+ | D− | 29 min | $93,293 |
| Middle Valley | under 1% | A− | D | 24 min | $95,000 |
| Flat Top Mountain | under 1% | B− | D− | 33 min | $121,131 |
| Chattanooga | 58% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $64,523 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chattanooga. Darker towns draw more of Soddy-Daisy’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 Soddy-Daisy: questions
What is the median household income in Soddy-Daisy?
$75,113 (±$8,773) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Soddy-Daisy?
7.4%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Soddy-Daisy?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Soddy-Daisy work?
5% work in town.
Is Soddy-Daisy walkable?
Soddy-Daisy is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Soddy-Daisy without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Soddy-Daisy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Soddy-Daisy
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.