The Middle Tennessee Town Index · methodology v1.2
Jobs located in the town per 100 employed residents
How many jobs are located inside this town, relative to how many of its residents are employed?
18 of 18 towns publish a figure today · measured 2026-09-02 · every figure carries its source, its date and the test that decided what counted.
What the two ends mean
10 = the most jobs inside the town relative to its working residents — a town people drive into. 1 = the fewest — a town people drive out of. Neither end is better; it is which way the traffic goes in the morning.
What this number is not a judgment about: it is a ratio of two counts and nothing else. It says nothing about what kind of work is done here, what it pays, or who does it.
A 10 means the town has at least a published amount of something — a threshold set in advance and the same for every town. It does not mean best. Several of these run opposite to each other: the town with the most restaurants per resident will almost never be the town with the biggest lots. Read the number, not the band. How this is measured, and what it does not measure.
Brentwood
Williamson County
247.99 jobs per 100 employed residents
51,663 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 20,833 employed residents
10Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 274 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 51,663 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 390 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 20,833 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 523 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Clarksville
Montgomery County
81.92 jobs per 100 employed residents
51,441 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 62,797 employed residents
4Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 605 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 51,441 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 1,523 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 62,797 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 1,978 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Columbia
Maury County
106.51 jobs per 100 employed residents
21,879 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 20,542 employed residents
6Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 308 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 21,879 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 755 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 20,542 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 1,031 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Dickson
Dickson County
155.29 jobs per 100 employed residents
12,504 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 8,052 employed residents
8Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 174 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 12,504 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 409 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 8,052 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 504 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Franklin
Williamson County
230.51 jobs per 100 employed residents
91,459 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 39,677 employed residents
10Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 638 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 91,459 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 997 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 39,677 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 1,408 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Gallatin
Sumner County
123.61 jobs per 100 employed residents
26,833 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 21,707 employed residents
7Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 255 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 26,833 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 516 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 21,707 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 681 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Goodlettsville
Davidson and Sumner Counties
143.76 jobs per 100 employed residents
13,151 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 9,148 employed residents
8Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 107 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 13,151 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 175 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 9,148 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 223 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Hendersonville
Sumner County
70.66 jobs per 100 employed residents
21,651 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 30,642 employed residents
4Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 270 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 21,651 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 528 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 30,642 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 668 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
La Vergne
Rutherford County
114.60 jobs per 100 employed residents
23,305 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 20,336 employed residents
6Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 121 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 23,305 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 285 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 20,336 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 328 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Lebanon
Wilson County
158.63 jobs per 100 employed residents
32,369 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 20,405 employed residents
8Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 288 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 32,369 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 504 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 20,405 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 747 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Mount Juliet
Wilson County
89.18 jobs per 100 employed residents
19,972 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 22,396 employed residents
5Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 191 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 19,972 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 370 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 22,396 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 468 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Murfreesboro
Rutherford County
98.00 jobs per 100 employed residents
74,767 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 76,292 employed residents
5Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 631 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 74,767 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 1,351 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 76,292 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 1,768 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Nolensville
Williamson County
37.67 jobs per 100 employed residents
2,706 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 7,184 employed residents
1Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 65 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 2,706 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 121 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 7,184 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 133 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Portland
Sumner County
121.00 jobs per 100 employed residents
7,976 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 6,592 employed residents
7Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 73 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 7,976 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 194 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 6,592 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 228 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Smyrna
Rutherford County
119.22 jobs per 100 employed residents
34,010 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 28,528 employed residents
6Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 235 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 34,010 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 505 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 28,528 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 704 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Spring Hill
Williamson and Maury Counties
40.84 jobs per 100 employed residents
10,503 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 25,716 employed residents
2Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 242 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 10,503 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 471 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 25,716 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 568 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Springfield
Robertson County
136.85 jobs per 100 employed residents
12,583 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 9,195 employed residents
7Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 135 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 12,583 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 270 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 9,195 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 347 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
White House
Sumner and Robertson Counties
57.25 jobs per 100 employed residents
4,111 jobs located inside the town
Employed residents of the town: 7,181 employed residents
3Measured 2026-09-02Sources for this figure (3)
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 67 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 4,111 jobs.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, worker segment S000, job type JT00, reference year 2023, column C000. Summed over the 123 of this place's blocks that appear in the file: 7,181 employed residents.
- U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 · published 2025-12-03 · retrieved 2026-09-02Tennessee geography crosswalk. 142 2020 census blocks carry this place in the `stplc` field; both sides above are aggregated over exactly that block set.
Every figure above is in the same unit: jobs per 100 employed residents. Nothing in a row describes any other town.
The published ruler
Nine edges, in jobs per 100 employed residents, set in advance and identical for every town. The band is arithmetic: one plus the number of edges the measurement reaches or clears. A measurement sitting exactly on an edge belongs to the higher band. Anyone can recompute our band from the figure on this page and the edges below.
40 · 55 · 70 · 85 · 100 · 120 · 140 · 170 · 200
Edge-table version v1.1 · basis P+O (P = physical or structural anchor, B = external benchmark, O = observed regional range) · re-measured on the A-tier cadence · pulled by the index-automation role, which owns the pull and never the result.
Part of this ruler was set from the range observed across Middle Tennessee rather than from a physical anchor or a published external benchmark, and that observation base was partial when the edges were set. Under the methodology's edge-governance rule an edge can change only as a published version bump that re-bands every town at once — never a per-town edit, never within twelve months of the last change in this category, and never while a town's measurement here is pending. The methodology separately schedules a single, announced re-set of observed-range edges after the first complete eighteen-town pass, and names the categories that carry it; this one is not among them today. If that ever changes, it is announced here before any band moves.
What was counted
Jobs located in the place, from the Census LEHD LODES8 Workplace Area Characteristics file (worker segment S000, job type JT00 — all jobs, column C000), divided by employed residents of the place from the matching Residence Area Characteristics file (same segment and job type), multiplied by 100. Both sides are aggregated from 2020 census blocks to the municipality using the Tennessee LODES crosswalk field `stplc`, so the figure follows the municipal boundary rather than a ZIP or a county. Reference year 2023, the latest LODES8 release. Above 100 the town has more jobs than working residents; below 100 it has fewer.
Sources of record
- ·U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 — Tennessee Workplace Area Characteristics, S000 JT00, 2023
- ·U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 — Tennessee Residence Area Characteristics, S000 JT00, 2023
- ·U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD LODES8 — Tennessee geography crosswalk (tn_xwalk)
Where this measure could go wrong, and what we did about it
The sharpest trap in the index: employment talk slides one word into the class-and-race proxies the compliance gate blocks by name. This category publishes one ratio and the two counts behind it, and stops. No industry mix, no occupations, no wages, no employer-type breakdown is scored or published here. A named major employer may appear elsewhere on the site as a landmark fact; it is never an input to this or any band.
There is a published list of what this index refuses to measure, and why, with somewhere useful to go instead for each one. Read what we do not measure, and why.
For Will, Mindy and John
Saying this out loud
One rule carries this whole card: say the number, not the placing. Everything else follows from it.
Not: a sentence that names a winner, in any wording — including “has the most.”
“Brentwood permitted about eight new units for every thousand it already has, averaged over the last three years. Gallatin’s figure is about sixty-nine. Which of those is the number you care about?”
Two figures with their unit, and a question. No superlative, no ordering, no verdict — and it ends with the client talking.
- ·Name the tradeoff in the same breath. A town in the middle of construction and a town whose housing is mostly already built are two different facts, not a better and a worse.
- ·Never add bands across categories, out loud, for anyone, including as a joke. The units are not commensurable; the sum means nothing and sounds like a verdict.
- ·Never repeat an ordering off a category page as a recommendation. The page lets a reader sort one column of one unit; that does not license us to read the result back to them.
- ·If the question is “which one is the best?” — answer “that depends on which of these you want most of, and here is how they trade off.” Never answer the question as asked.
- ·If the question is which town has the most of something — the question our own category pages invite — give two or three towns’ numbers, in order of nothing, and let the client decide which matters to them.
- ·Never volunteer, and never confirm, anything this index does not measure. Point to the methodology page, which names every exclusion and where to go instead.
The rest of the index
Working out where you fit
These eighteen measures trade off against each other by design. If you would rather answer eight questions than read eighteen columns, the quiz walks the same tradeoffs and shows its reasoning.