Work & commute · Bells

Work & commute in Bells, TN

Most working residents leave Bells for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Jackson (27%), Alamo (6%) and Memphis (4%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

157 of 1,035 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 878 Bells residents head out of town to work, 157 work right here, and 1,164 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bells.

878live here, work elsewhere

157live and work here

1,164work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bells goes to work

Jackson14.5 mi away

27%283

Bells (in town)right here

15%157

Alamo4.7 mi away

6%61

Memphis65.2 mi away

4%41

Union City48.9 mi away

4%37

Brownsville13.2 mi away

3%36

Humboldt12.6 mi away

2%25

Dyersburg27.9 mi away

2%17

Milan22.8 mi away

2%16

Parsons54.2 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%353

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Bells commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

29%

41%

10%

21%

29%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bells is balanced between jobs and homes

1.28jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Bells are

1,321 jobs are based in Bells. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bells’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bells

1,321 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)73%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)24%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Bells residents hold

1,035 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+260%

Jobs based in Bells, 2013 → 2023: 367 → 1,321. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe 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 saysA 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 surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.