Most of Spurgeon commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
There are 477 jobs in Spurgeon; 1,806 of its residents have a job. Spurgeon grades B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Home is the office for 22% of workers, where Tennessee as a whole has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Spurgeon, in brief
Spurgeon makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Spurgeon are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Spurgeon residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
Spurgeon and Johnson City trade workers both ways
Johnson City is the top workplace for Spurgeon residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Spurgeon come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Spurgeon is a place people come home to
There are 477 jobs based in Spurgeon, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Spurgeon has about 2,700 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Spurgeon
22% of Spurgeon workers work from home, against 13% across Tennessee. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Spurgeon are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Spurgeon gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spurgeon is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #73 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Spurgeon’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spurgeon could be anywhere from C to B+.
Making and building: 52% of jobs based in Spurgeon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spurgeon, 2013 → 2023: 235 → 477. 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 Spurgeon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
32% of working residents work in Johnson City
Where Spurgeon clocks in
32% of workers
24% 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.
Spurgeon by day and by night
On a workday 1,791 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 462 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Spurgeon on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
From Spurgeon, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spurgeon workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,454 commuters (the 22% 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.
How far it is to work from Spurgeon
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.
Getting around Spurgeon: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spurgeon is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #120 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 1,860 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). 9.7% of Spurgeon households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spurgeon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,500, Spurgeon ranks 2,265th of 4,283 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 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 423 | Piperton TN | 2,889 | $130K | 4.6% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,263 | Madison Township OH | 3,775 | $99K | 11.8% | 3.5% | 4% | B− |
| 2,264 | Auglaize Township OH | 2,831 | $82K | 3.2% | 7.3% | 7% | B− |
| 2,265 | Spurgeon TN | 4,071 | $64K | 21.9% | 2.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,266 | Towamensing Township PA | 4,610 | $69K | 6.5% | 5.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,267 | Arcola IL | 2,928 | $90K | 9.6% | 5.4% | 33% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,283 | 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 Spurgeon, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Spurgeon and its neighbors: 33% work next door
The biggest share goes to Johnson City (32%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spurgeon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spurgeon | – | B− | C | 20 min | $64,250 |
| Johnson City | 32% | C | B+ | 19 min | $57,254 |
| Oak Grove | 1% | B− | D | 26 min | $72,143 |
| Gray | under 2% | B | C− | 29 min | $69,947 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Spurgeon’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 Spurgeon: questions
What is the median household income in Spurgeon?
$64,250 (±$11,983) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spurgeon?
21.9%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spurgeon?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spurgeon work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (32%, 8 mi), Kingsport (24%, 7 mi), Jonesborough (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spurgeon walkable?
Spurgeon is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spurgeon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spurgeon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spurgeon
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.