Work & commute · Roan Mountain

Work & commute in Roan Mountain, TN

Most working residents leave Roan Mountain for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Johnson City (14%), Elizabethton (12%) and Kingsport (5%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15 of 421 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 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 406 Roan Mountain residents head out of town to work, 15 work right here, and 118 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Roan Mountain.

406live here, work elsewhere

15live and work here

118work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Roan Mountain goes to work

Johnson City20.4 mi away

14%58

Elizabethton14.1 mi away

12%50

Kingsport34.9 mi away

5%20

Roan Mountain (in town)right here

4%15

Banner Elk, NC11.5 mi away

3%13

Sugar Mountain, NC12.2 mi away

3%13

Knoxville106 mi away

3%12

Boone, NC22.7 mi away

2%9

Asheville, NC50.4 mi away

2%7

Bristol27 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%217

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

How far

How far Roan Mountain commutes

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

11%

50%

16%

22%

11%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Roan Mountain is a commuter town

0.32jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.32 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Roan Mountain are

133 jobs are based in Roan Mountain. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Roan Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Roan Mountain

133 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Roan Mountain residents hold

421 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+43%

Jobs based in Roan Mountain, 2013 → 2023: 93 → 133. 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.