Work & commute · Cleveland

Work & commute in Cleveland, TN

About one in 3 of Cleveland’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Chattanooga (21%), Knoxville (3%) and Athens (2%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

39%

7,587 of 19,678 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,091 Cleveland residents head out of town to work, 7,587 work right here, and 25,299 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cleveland.

12,091live here, work elsewhere

7,587live and work here

25,299work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cleveland goes to work

Cleveland (in town)right here

39%7,587

Chattanooga22.7 mi away

21%4,115

Knoxville75.3 mi away

3%508

Athens24.3 mi away

2%333

Memphis288 mi away

1%200

Collegedale13.3 mi away

1%189

South Cleveland5.4 mi away

1%189

Dalton, GA29.1 mi away

1%184

Apison14.4 mi away

1%152

Dayton23.1 mi away

1%141

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%6,080

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

How far

How far Cleveland commutes

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

45%

23%

10%

22%

45%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cleveland is a job hub

1.67jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Cleveland are

32,886 jobs are based in Cleveland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cleveland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cleveland

32,886 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Cleveland residents hold

19,678 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+2%

Jobs based in Cleveland, 2013 → 2023: 32,087 → 32,886. 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.