Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Somerville trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Somerville is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (C). Below the poverty line: 25.0% of residents, against 13.8% across Tennessee. About one in seven work in Somerville itself; outside it, Memphis draws the most (32%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Somerville stands out on work
Somerville is where the jobs are
Somerville has 2,292 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
One in three of Somerville works in Memphis
448 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Memphis, 35 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Somerville itself. The commute map ↓
Somerville has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Somerville went from 1,659 in 2013 to 2,292 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.
Inside Somerville’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Somerville’s grade up (1.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($44,310, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Somerville could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Somerville
On a workday 1,177 residents head out to work, 220 work right here, and 2,072 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Somerville on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Who travels to work in Somerville, and from where
Where Somerville clocks in
32% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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 2,292 jobs in Somerville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerville, 2013 → 2023: 1,659 → 2,292. 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 Somerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Somerville: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerville workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,173 commuters (the 9% 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 Somerville
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 Somerville walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 1,290 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). 12.2% of Somerville households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Somerville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Somerville next to U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900: 3,065th of 4,474 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,063 | Marin City CA | 3,195 | $69K | 16.1% | 11.3% | 4% | C |
| 3,064 | Brighton TN | 2,892 | $81K | 14.9% | 7.7% | 2% | C |
| 3,065 | Somerville TN | 3,622 | $44K | 25.0% | 1.9% | 16% | C |
| 3,066 | Fairmount Township IN | 3,978 | $66K | 21.7% | 3.3% | 7% | C |
| 3,067 | Foster Township PA | 3,868 | $70K | 9.8% | 5.3% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Somerville, 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 Somerville: questions
What is the median household income in Somerville?
$44,310 (±$7,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerville?
25.0%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerville?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerville work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (32%, 35 mi), Collierville (6%, 22 mi), Bartlett (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Somerville walkable?
Somerville is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Somerville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerville
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.