About half of Three Way’s working residents commute to Jackson
The average commute, 26 minutes each way, matches the Tennessee norm. For jobs and income Three Way is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D). Only 1% stay in Three Way for work; outside it, Jackson is the main destination (47%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Three Way apart
Nearly half of Three Way works in Jackson
438 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Jackson, 7.9 miles away. That’s 47 times as many as work in Three Way itself. The commute map ↓
Three Way is a place people come home to
There are 262 jobs based in Three Way, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Three Way has about 1,300 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; with 927 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Three Way’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
The poverty rate holds Three Way’s grade up (6.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Three Way could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Where Three Way’s working residents head each day
Where Three Way clocks in
47% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Three Way on a workday afternoon
On a workday 917 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 252 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Three Way on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.28 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.
What work there is in Three Way: 262 jobs
262 jobs are based in Three Way.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Three Way, 2013 → 2023: 132 → 262. 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 Three Way’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Three Way: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Three Way workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 873 commuters (the 8% 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.
Where in the region Three Way works
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.
Three Way is a driving town
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 950 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). 0.7% of Three Way households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Three Way’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600, Three Way comes 1,811th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,809 | Clay Township PA | 2,473 | $84K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 7% | B |
| 1,810 | Oakboro NC | 2,316 | $69K | 5.5% | 4.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,811 | Three Way TN | 1,933 | $88K | 6.4% | 7.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,812 | Sonora TX | 2,373 | $72K | 5.4% | 1.7% | 29% | B |
| 1,813 | Reading NY | 1,643 | $86K | 5.6% | 5.1% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Three Way, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
The towns around Three Way
The biggest share goes to Humboldt (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Three Way’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 Three Way: questions
What is the median household income in Three Way?
$88,125 (±$13,374) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Three Way?
6.4%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Three Way?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Three Way work?
1% work in town.
Is Three Way walkable?
Three Way 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 Three Way without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Three Way, from the people who make the trip.
More of Three Way
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.