46% of Athens’s working residents work right in town
46% of Athens’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Atlanta (4%), Jefferson (2%) and Gainesville (1%). Half commute less than 8 miles.
What stands out about work in Athens
Commutes from Athens are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Georgia, ranking #40 for the shortest commute in GA. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Athens draws workers from far and wide
The 66,202 jobs in Athens are filled from a wide area. Athens’ own residents hold 32% and the ten next-biggest home towns 6%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
4% of working residents work in Atlanta
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Athens clocks in
4% of workers
2% of workers
1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Athens fills up on a workday
On a workday 24,421 residents head out to work, 21,185 work right here, and 45,017 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150,000 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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.
Half of Athens commutes less than 8 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 23% 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.
What the 66,202 jobs in Athens are
66,202 jobs are based in Athens. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 60,776 → 66,202. 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.
Athens and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Athens’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Every worker, home to work. The Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.
- Where the employer says. A job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.
- Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
- Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
More of Athens
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.