Sullivan Gardens has lower household incomes than 91% of U.S. towns
8.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.8% across Tennessee. Measured by household income, Sullivan Gardens is behind 91% of U.S. towns. Commuters spend 28 minutes getting to work on average; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sullivan Gardens: the gist
43% of Sullivan Gardens works in Kingsport
222 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Kingsport, 3.4 miles away across the town line. That’s far more as work in Sullivan Gardens itself. The commute map ↓
Sullivan Gardens is a place people come home to
There are 92 jobs based in Sullivan Gardens, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sullivan Gardens has about 840 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Sullivan Gardens’ working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 28 minutes, longer than the Tennessee average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 516 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Sullivan Gardens
On income, poverty and job access, Sullivan Gardens is better than 43% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Sullivan Gardens’ grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,754, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Sullivan Gardens’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sullivan Gardens could be anywhere from C to B+.
43% of working residents work in Kingsport
Where Sullivan Gardens clocks in
43% of workers
16% of workers
3% 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.
How a workday changes Sullivan Gardens
On a workday 515 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 91 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Sullivan Gardens on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.18 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting from Sullivan Gardens: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sullivan Gardens workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 602 commuters (the 4% 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.
Sullivan Gardens makes things: 83% of its jobs are in goods
92 jobs are based in Sullivan Gardens.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sullivan Gardens, 2014 → 2024: 59 → 92. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sullivan Gardens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Sullivan Gardens
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Sullivan Gardens: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sullivan Gardens is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns. 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 629 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 4.6% of Sullivan Gardens households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sullivan Gardens’ commuters take a bus or train.
Sullivan Gardens next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700: 1,981st of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 721 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 804 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,979 | Patrick AFB FL | 1,644 | $76K | 15.4% | 3.2% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,980 | Mount Vernon MD | 1,067 | $114K | 15.2% | 0.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,981 | Sullivan Gardens TN | 1,267 | $47K | 8.0% | 1.7% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,982 | Richmond MN | 1,515 | $71K | 10.1% | 1.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,983 | Divernon Township IL | 1,399 | $77K | 14.2% | 4.6% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Sullivan Gardens, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
43% of Sullivan Gardens works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sullivan Gardens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sullivan Gardens | – | C+ | D | 28 min | $46,754 |
| Kingsport | 43% | C | B | 19 min | $52,490 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kingsport. Darker towns draw more of Sullivan Gardens’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 2024, 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 Sullivan Gardens: questions
What is the median household income in Sullivan Gardens?
$46,754 (±$16,101) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sullivan Gardens?
8.0%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sullivan Gardens?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sullivan Gardens work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingsport (43%, 3 mi), Johnson City (16%, 15 mi), Bristol (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Sullivan Gardens walkable?
Sullivan Gardens is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sullivan Gardens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sullivan Gardens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sullivan Gardens
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.