Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Troy has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Troy report 282 jobs; 557 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Troy are D for jobs and income and D for walkability. Measured by household income, Troy is behind 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Troy apart on work
One in three of Troy works in Union City
188 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Union City, 8.5 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in Troy itself. The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Troy than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Troy fell from 404 in 2013 to 282 in 2023, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Troy are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 54 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 557 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Troy’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Troy is better than 12% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Troy’s grade up (13.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($51,711, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Troy’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, Troy could be anywhere from D− to C.
34% of working residents work in Union City
Where Troy clocks in
34% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Troy
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Troy, 2013 → 2023: 404 → 282. 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 Troy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes to work from Troy
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Troy workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 902 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.
How a workday changes Troy
On a workday 536 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 261 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Troy on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Troy
About 22% 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.
Most trips from Troy start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Troy is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Troy near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 919 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). 5.7% of Troy households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Troy’s commuters take a bus or train.
Troy is 4,723rd of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900 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% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,721 | Gordo AL | 1,553 | $48K | 14.9% | 2.8% | 5% | D |
| 4,722 | Colbert OK | 1,118 | $46K | 24.8% | 6.9% | 4% | D |
| 4,723 | Troy TN | 1,399 | $52K | 13.6% | 2.2% | 4% | D |
| 4,724 | Benton TN | 1,476 | $29K | 22.7% | 10.1% | 7% | D |
| 4,725 | Au Train Township MI | 1,007 | $64K | 14.4% | 10.3% | 8% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Troy, 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 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 Troy: questions
What is the median household income in Troy?
$51,711 (±$12,598) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Troy?
13.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Troy?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Troy work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union City (34%, 8 mi), Dyersburg (9%, 24 mi), Jackson (5%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Troy walkable?
Troy is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Troy without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Troy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Troy
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.