Work & commute · Cookeville

Work & commute in Cookeville, TN

49% of Cookeville’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Knoxville (2%), Sparta (2%) and Chattanooga (2%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

49%

6,214 of 12,597 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,383 Cookeville residents head out of town to work, 6,214 work right here, and 26,209 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cookeville.

6,383live here, work elsewhere

6,214live and work here

26,209work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cookeville goes to work

Cookeville (in town)right here

49%6,214

Knoxville88.2 mi away

2%287

Sparta14.8 mi away

2%247

Chattanooga76.1 mi away

2%247

Algood5.2 mi away

2%246

Crossville30.1 mi away

2%217

Livingston19.6 mi away

1%186

Murfreesboro54.7 mi away

1%137

Franklin76.6 mi away

1%128

Monterey13.9 mi away

1%126

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%4,562

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

How far

How far Cookeville commutes

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

55%

31%

55%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cookeville is a job hub

2.57jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Cookeville are

32,423 jobs are based in Cookeville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cookeville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cookeville

32,423 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Cookeville residents hold

12,597 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+21%

Jobs based in Cookeville, 2013 → 2023: 26,768 → 32,423. 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.