Work & commute · Karns

Work & commute in Karns, TN

Most working residents leave Karns for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Knoxville (40%), Oak Ridge (13%) and Alcoa (3%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19 of 1,646 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,627 Karns residents head out of town to work, 19 work right here, and 1,512 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Karns.

1,627live here, work elsewhere

19live and work here

1,512work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Karns goes to work

Knoxville9 mi away

40%666

Oak Ridge10.2 mi away

13%217

Alcoa13.7 mi away

3%53

Farragut8.1 mi away

2%37

Maryville17.5 mi away

2%35

Chattanooga89.9 mi away

2%29

Clinton8.5 mi away

2%28

Karns (in town)right here

1%19

Memphis334.8 mi away

1%17

Halls12.1 mi away

1%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%529

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

How far

How far Karns commutes

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

59%

25%

13%

59%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Karns is balanced between jobs and homes

0.93jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Karns are

1,531 jobs are based in Karns. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Karns’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Karns

1,531 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Karns residents hold

1,646 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+29%

Jobs based in Karns, 2013 → 2023: 1,183 → 1,531. 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.