Willian H. Long House · Photo: Tradewinds · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Ayden have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 22.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina. For jobs and income Ayden is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (C+). 3% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Ayden stands out on work
Ayden and Greenville trade workers both ways
Greenville is the top workplace for Ayden residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Ayden come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Ayden workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ayden than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ayden fell from 1,513 in 2013 to 1,070 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Ayden
Job access by car holds Ayden’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($42,413, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ayden could be anywhere from D to C+.
33% of working residents work in Greenville
Where Ayden clocks in
33% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Ayden: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ayden workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,042 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Inside Ayden’s 1,070 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ayden, 2013 → 2023: 1,513 → 1,070. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ayden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Ayden, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,915 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 964 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Ayden on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.53 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Miles to work from Ayden
About 24% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Ayden start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,104 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.0% of Ayden households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ayden’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,100, and where Ayden sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,271 | Rainbow Lakes Estates FL | 3,762 | $50K | 11.9% | 6.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,272 | St. Clair MO | 4,813 | $42K | 15.1% | 9.8% | 15% | D |
| 3,273 | Ayden NC | 5,263 | $42K | 22.4% | 6.7% | 5% | D |
| 3,274 | Clearfield PA | 5,753 | $55K | 20.1% | 8.3% | 17% | D |
| 3,275 | Cutler CA | 4,361 | $59K | 24.9% | 11.5% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,582 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ayden, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Ayden and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Ayden’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ayden: questions
What is the median household income in Ayden?
$42,413 (±$5,393) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ayden?
22.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ayden?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ayden work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (33%, 9 mi), Kinston (6%, 17 mi), Raleigh (4%, 73 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ayden walkable?
Ayden is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ayden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ayden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ayden
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.