Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Waynesboro are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Waynesboro; the top destination outside it is Nashville (10%, 80 miles). 26.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.8% across Tennessee. The two grades for Waynesboro are D− 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
The commute and the jobs: Waynesboro in brief
Waynesboro is where the jobs are
Waynesboro has 2,330 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,700 people are in town, 61% more than the 2,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Waynesboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Waynesboro is Nashville, 80 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (88) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 908 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Waynesboro earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waynesboro is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Waynesboro’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waynesboro could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who commutes out of Waynesboro, and who commutes in
On a workday 654 residents head out to work, 254 work right here, and 2,076 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Waynesboro on a workday afternoon, 61% more than live here.
2.6 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 2024, primary jobs.
Waynesboro’s commute, mile by mile
About 37% 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.
Where the people who work in Waynesboro live
Where Waynesboro clocks in
6% 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.
Waynesboro is a services town
2,330 jobs are based in Waynesboro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waynesboro, 2014 → 2024: 2,228 → 2,330. 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 Waynesboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Waynesboro: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waynesboro workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 895 commuters (the 11% 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.
Most trips from Waynesboro start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waynesboro is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Waynesboro 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 1,001 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). 22.1% of Waynesboro households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waynesboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waynesboro next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,178 | Hertford NC | 2,011 | $40K | 24.7% | 3.2% | 10% | D− |
| 5,179 | Yanceyville NC | 1,850 | $28K | 38.3% | 1.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,180 | Waynesboro TN | 2,319 | $41K | 26.7% | 9.9% | 28% | D− |
| 5,181 | Newport WA | 2,242 | $51K | 29.1% | 6.5% | 17% | D− |
| 5,182 | Richgrove CA | 1,960 | $45K | 32.8% | 11.6% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Waynesboro, 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 Waynesboro: questions
What is the median household income in Waynesboro?
$40,977 (±$20,622) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waynesboro?
26.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waynesboro?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waynesboro work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (10%, 80 mi), Lawrenceburg (6%, 25 mi), Columbia (5%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Waynesboro walkable?
Waynesboro is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waynesboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waynesboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waynesboro
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.