Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 2.5There are 2.5 jobs in Townsend for every working resident, and 501 people commute in
There are 514 jobs in Townsend; 205 of its residents have a job. Only 6% work in Townsend itself; outside it, Maryville draws the most (20%, 14 miles). Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Townsend in brief
Townsend is where the jobs are
Townsend has 514 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 950 people are in town, 48% more than the 640 who live here. Day and night ↓
Townsend and Maryville trade workers both ways
Maryville is the top workplace for Townsend residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Townsend come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Townsend
61% of Townsend residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Townsend pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. 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; with 205 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Townsend by day and by night
On a workday 192 residents head out to work and 13 work right here.
About 950 people are in Townsend on a workday afternoon, 48% more than live here.
2.5 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 Townsend, and from where
Where Townsend clocks in
20% of workers
11% of workers
10% 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 Townsend’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 289 → 514. 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 Townsend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Townsend: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Townsend workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 215 commuters (the 2% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Townsend
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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 Townsend: questions
What is the median household income in Townsend?
$85,921 (±$15,115) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Townsend?
5.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Townsend?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Townsend work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Maryville (20%, 14 mi), Knoxville (11%, 23 mi), Alcoa (10%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Townsend without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Townsend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Townsend
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.