Work & commute · Memphis

Work & commute in Memphis, TN

72% of Memphis’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Olive Branch (3%), Collierville (3%) and Bartlett (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

72%

178,244 of 248,092 working residents

Typical commute

8 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 69,848 Memphis residents head out of town to work, 178,244 work right here, and 201,351 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Memphis.

69,848live here, work elsewhere

178,244live and work here

201,351work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Memphis goes to work

Memphis (in town)right here

72%178,244

Olive Branch, MS12.8 mi away

3%7,342

Collierville15.9 mi away

3%6,840

Bartlett12 mi away

3%6,603

Germantown10.7 mi away

2%4,975

Southaven, MS10.9 mi away

2%4,747

Jackson74.2 mi away

1%1,451

Chattanooga266.9 mi away

0%1,161

West Memphis, AR13.3 mi away

0%1,066

Millington16 mi away

0%1,059

Everywhere elseother towns and states

14%34,604

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

How far

How far Memphis commutes

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

63%

26%

10%

63%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

1%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Memphis is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Memphis are

379,595 jobs are based in Memphis. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Memphis’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Memphis

379,595 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Memphis residents hold

248,092 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−2%

Jobs based in Memphis, 2013 → 2023: 389,145 → 379,595. 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.