Work & commute · Bluff

Work & commute in Bluff, TN

Most working residents leave Bluff for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Johnson City (23%), Bristol (14%) and Kingsport (11%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16 of 705 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 689 Bluff residents head out of town to work, 16 work right here, and 916 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bluff.

689live here, work elsewhere

16live and work here

916work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bluff goes to work

Johnson City9.9 mi away

23%162

Bristol7.6 mi away

14%97

Kingsport15.3 mi away

11%75

Elizabethton8.6 mi away

4%31

Blountville5.8 mi away

4%27

Knoxville99.1 mi away

3%18

Bluff City (in town)right here

2%16

Bristol, VA12.8 mi away

2%16

Erwin22.9 mi away

1%8

Jonesborough15.8 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%249

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

How far

How far Bluff commutes

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

45%

35%

18%

45%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bluff is balanced between jobs and homes

1.32jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Bluff are

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

Jobs based in Bluff

932 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Bluff residents hold

705 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+1%

Jobs based in Bluff, 2013 → 2023: 925 → 932. 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.