Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Winchester has lower household incomes than 69% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Winchester are C for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 13.5% of residents, next to 13.8% for Tennessee as a whole. About one in four work in Winchester; the top destination outside it is Tullahoma (8%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Winchester apart on work
Winchester draws workers from far and wide
The 5,580 jobs in Winchester are filled from a wide area. Winchester’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 22%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Winchester are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Winchester: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Winchester is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #111 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Winchester’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($62,782, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Winchester could be anywhere from D to B.
The towns that employ Winchester’s residents
Where Winchester clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
About 21 minutes to work from Winchester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Winchester workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,823 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.
Miles to work from Winchester
About 32% 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.
How a workday changes Winchester
On a workday 2,955 residents head out to work, 990 work right here, and 4,590 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Winchester on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 per resident).
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 the 5,580 jobs in Winchester are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Winchester, 2013 → 2023: 5,568 → 5,580. 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 Winchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Winchester, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Winchester is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #133 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 4,296 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). 4.9% of Winchester households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Winchester’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Winchester ranks: 2,186th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,184 | Newport TN | 7,049 | $31K | 27.2% | 0.6% | 18% | C |
| 2,185 | Sharon Township OH | 8,948 | $61K | 13.0% | 4.7% | 16% | C |
| 2,186 | Winchester TN | 10,438 | $63K | 13.5% | 4.4% | 25% | C |
| 2,187 | Clinton OK | 8,302 | $58K | 19.3% | 2.0% | 45% | C |
| 2,188 | Cheney WA | 12,650 | $55K | 31.3% | 13.1% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Winchester, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Winchester and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Decherd (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Winchester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | – | C | C− | 21 min | $62,782 |
| Decherd | 4% | D | B− | 20 min | $37,575 |
| Cowan | under 2% | D | C | 28 min | $46,406 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Winchester’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 Winchester: questions
What is the median household income in Winchester?
$62,782 (±$8,123) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Winchester?
13.5%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Winchester?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Winchester work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tullahoma (8%, 14 mi), Nashville (7%, 78 mi), Smyrna (6%, 59 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Winchester walkable?
Winchester is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Winchester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Winchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Winchester
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.