Every workday, about 311,000 people come to Nashville for work
63% of Nashville’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Franklin (5%), Berry Hill (5%) and Brentwood (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.
On a workday 118,364 residents head out to work, 198,788 work right here, and 311,215 people come in from elsewhere.
118,364live here, work elsewhere
198,788live and work here
311,215work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night715,000
Workday908,000
715,000live here− 118,000head out to work+ 311,000come in to work= 908,000on a workday
About 908,000 people are in Nashville on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
Job hub or commuter town?
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The commute map
Where Nashville’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
How far
Half of Nashville commutes less than 9 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
NashvilleTop destinations (size = commuters)
59%
29%
9%
59%Under 10 mi186,565 residents
29%10–24 mi90,737 residents
4%25–50 mi11,478 residents
9%Over 50 mi27,514 residents
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
The jobs
68% of the jobs in Nashville pay over $3,333 a month
510,003 jobs are based in Nashville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Nashville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jobs based in NashvilleJobs Nashville residents hold
What kind of work
Goods: factories, building, farms9%9%
Trade, transport & utilities18%18%
Services: health, schools, offices72%72%
What it pays
$1,250 a month or less12%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month21%22%
Over $3,333 a month68%65%
Who does it
29 or younger24%27%
30 to 5454%53%
55 and older21%20%
+31%
Jobs based in Nashville, 2013 → 2023: 390,345 → 510,003. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Time on the road
About 25 minutes each way, about the TN average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A year of commuting
189 hours
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
Nashville25 min
Tennessee26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
20%
of Nashville workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Every worker, home to work. The 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.
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Where the employer says. A 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.
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Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
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Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.
5% of workers
5% of workers