Work & commute · Oak Grove

Work & commute in Oak Grove, TN

Most working residents leave Oak Grove for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Johnson City (37%), Kingsport (17%) and Bristol (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

55 of 2,003 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

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,948 Oak Grove residents head out of town to work, 55 work right here, and 3,320 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak Grove.

1,948live here, work elsewhere

55live and work here

3,320work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak Grove goes to work

Johnson City6.4 mi away

37%745

Kingsport8.9 mi away

17%349

Bristol15.2 mi away

4%74

Jonesborough9.2 mi away

4%73

Elizabethton12.4 mi away

3%63

Oak Grove (in town)right here

3%55

Knoxville90.1 mi away

2%45

Greeneville27.9 mi away

2%43

Erwin19.3 mi away

1%28

Chattanooga183.6 mi away

1%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%509

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

How far

How far Oak Grove commutes

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

59%

22%

16%

59%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak Grove is a job hub

1.68jobs 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 Oak Grove are

3,375 jobs are based in Oak Grove. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak Grove

3,375 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)94%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Oak Grove residents hold

2,003 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+929%

Jobs based in Oak Grove, 2013 → 2023: 328 → 3,375. 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.