Photo: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Memphis has lower household incomes than 90% of U.S. towns
Memphis grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 17.3%, against 13.8% across Texas. 1% of workers work from home; Texas has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Memphis apart
Memphis’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Memphis is Amarillo, 80 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (79) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
50% 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 ↓
Most jobs in Memphis go to people who live here
Of the 375 jobs based in Memphis, 45% are held by Memphis residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
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 736 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Memphis’ grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Memphis is better than 3% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Memphis’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (10.3%) is left out: Memphis’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, Memphis could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Where in the region Memphis works
About 50% 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.
Memphis by day and by night
On a workday 569 residents head out to work, 167 work right here, and 208 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Memphis on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.51 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.
11% of working residents work in Amarillo
Where Memphis clocks in
11% 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.
What the 375 jobs in Memphis are
375 jobs are based in Memphis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Memphis, 2013 → 2023: 571 → 375. 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 Memphis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 14 minutes to work from Memphis
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Memphis workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 802 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
In Memphis, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Memphis is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 813 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). 4.5% of Memphis households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Memphis’ commuters take a bus or train.
Memphis next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 22 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 23 | Serenada TX | 1,444 | $155K | 1.5% | 2.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,194 | Enfield NC | 1,777 | $35K | 20.7% | 21.4% | 3% | D− |
| 5,195 | McColl SC | 1,974 | $27K | 41.9% | 9.0% | 4% | D− |
| 5,196 | Memphis TX | 1,969 | $48K | 17.3% | 10.3% | 23% | D− |
| 5,197 | Woodville TX | 2,339 | $46K | 18.9% | 10.8% | 28% | D− |
| 5,198 | Malone FL | 1,865 | $45K | 16.8% | 4.1% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Memphis, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Memphis: questions
What is the median household income in Memphis?
$47,639 (±$15,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Memphis?
17.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Memphis?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Memphis work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (11%, 80 mi), Hedley (7%, 12 mi), Childress (5%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Memphis walkable?
Memphis is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Memphis without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Memphis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Memphis
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.