Work & commute · Sparta

Work & commute in Sparta, TN

About one in 4 of Sparta’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Cookeville (19%), Chattanooga (2%) and Crossville (2%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27%

515 of 1,891 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 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 1,376 Sparta residents head out of town to work, 515 work right here, and 4,862 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sparta.

1,376live here, work elsewhere

515live and work here

4,862work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sparta goes to work

Sparta (in town)right here

27%515

Cookeville14.8 mi away

19%368

Chattanooga61.3 mi away

2%43

Crossville24.8 mi away

2%39

Knoxville85.2 mi away

2%38

Smithville19.6 mi away

2%32

Murfreesboro53.4 mi away

2%30

McMinnville24.4 mi away

1%27

Franklin77.2 mi away

1%23

Lebanon52 mi away

1%21

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%755

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

How far

How far Sparta commutes

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

33%

29%

32%

33%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sparta is a job hub

2.84jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sparta are

5,377 jobs are based in Sparta. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sparta’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sparta

5,377 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Sparta residents hold

1,891 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month46%

+21%

Jobs based in Sparta, 2013 → 2023: 4,440 → 5,377. 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.