Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Tracy City’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 2% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 50 minutes each way (Tennessee 26, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Tracy City; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (7%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Tracy City
Tracy City workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 50 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 383 hours of commuting, 184 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Tracy City workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Tennessee. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 497 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Tracy City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Tracy City is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Tracy City’s grade.
Unemployment (8.3%) is left out: Tracy City’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, Tracy City could be anywhere from D− to D.
About 50 minutes each way, longer than most of Tennessee
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tracy City workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 464 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.
Tracy City quiets down on a workday
On a workday 463 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 313 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Tracy City on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
7% of working residents work in Chattanooga
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Tracy City clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Tracy City makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
347 jobs are based in Tracy City. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tracy City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tracy City, 2013 → 2023: 233 → 347. 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.
Half of Tracy City commutes less than 21 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Tracy City start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tracy City is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% 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 472 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). 12.6% of Tracy City households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tracy City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Tracy City compares with U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Tracy City, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 422 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Berry Hill TN | 1,864 | $80K | 11.2% | 3.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,628 | Richland MO | 1,737 | $34K | 25.9% | 3.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,629 | Fairfax SC | 1,352 | $41K | 26.8% | 6.1% | 5% | D− |
| 5,630 | Tracy City TN | 1,427 | $39K | 24.2% | 8.3% | 7% | D− |
| 5,631 | Soap Lake WA | 1,817 | $48K | 27.4% | 8.9% | 3% | D− |
| 5,632 | Crandon WI | 1,726 | $43K | 20.9% | 1.8% | 16% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
Tracy City and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Monteagle (5%). Darker towns draw more of Tracy City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tracy City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracy City | – | D− | C− | 50 min | $39,479 |
| Monteagle | 5% | C− | B− | 26 min | $63,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Tracy City: questions
What is the median household income in Tracy City?
$39,479 (±$14,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tracy City?
24.2%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tracy City?
50 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tracy City work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (7%, 32 mi), Winchester (6%, 20 mi), Sewanee (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tracy City walkable?
Tracy City is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tracy City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tracy City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tracy City
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.