Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Households in Sweetwater have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Sweetwater for work; outside it, Knoxville is the main destination (10%, 39 miles). Poverty touches 14.6% of residents, against 13.8% across Tennessee. Sweetwater grades C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sweetwater: the figures worth knowing
Sweetwater’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sweetwater is Knoxville, 39 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (283) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Sweetwater 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Sweetwater earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sweetwater is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #91 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Sweetwater’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($45,451, 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, Sweetwater could be anywhere from C− to B.
Sweetwater’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting to work from Sweetwater takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sweetwater workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,484 commuters (the 7% 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 a workday changes Sweetwater
On a workday 2,292 residents head out to work, 496 work right here, and 3,258 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,700 people are in Sweetwater on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 per resident).
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 out of Sweetwater: the destinations
Where Sweetwater clocks in
10% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in Sweetwater
3,754 jobs are based in Sweetwater.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sweetwater, 2014 → 2024: 3,472 → 3,754. 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 Sweetwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sweetwater, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sweetwater is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #100 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 2,667 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). 9.2% of Sweetwater households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sweetwater’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,253 U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100, Sweetwater comes 2,241st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 327 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 361 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,239 | Perry NY | 4,769 | $63K | 9.7% | 3.5% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,240 | Emmett ID | 8,900 | $59K | 18.3% | 2.1% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,241 | Sweetwater TN | 6,706 | $45K | 14.6% | 2.7% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,242 | Monroe Township IN | 8,997 | $67K | 8.9% | 6.1% | 12% | C+ |
| 2,243 | Jefferson Township OH | 5,982 | $73K | 12.9% | 12.2% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Sweetwater, 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 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 Sweetwater: questions
What is the median household income in Sweetwater?
$45,451 (±$13,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sweetwater?
14.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sweetwater?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sweetwater work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (10%, 39 mi), Vonore (8%, 13 mi), Loudon (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Sweetwater walkable?
Sweetwater is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sweetwater without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sweetwater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sweetwater
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.