Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Barker Heights’
Measured by household income, Barker Heights is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 49.7% of residents are in poverty, against 13.0% across North Carolina. Jobs and income earn Barker Heights D; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Barker Heights
Barker Heights and Hendersonville trade workers both ways
Hendersonville is the top workplace for Barker Heights residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Barker Heights come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Barker Heights are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Barker Heights workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 381 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Barker Heights’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Barker Heights is better than 10% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Barker Heights’ grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Barker Heights’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Barker Heights could be anywhere from D to C−.
22% of working residents work in Hendersonville
Where Barker Heights clocks in
22% 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.
Barker Heights’ commute takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barker Heights workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 641 commuters (the 1% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Barker Heights
On a workday 379 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 175 people come in from elsewhere.
About 870 people are in Barker Heights on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.46 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.
What the 177 jobs in Barker Heights are
177 jobs are based in Barker Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barker Heights, 2013 → 2023: 54 → 177. 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 Barker Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Barker Heights’ commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Barker Heights gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Barker Heights is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 645 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). 1.5% of Barker Heights households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Barker Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Barker Heights is 2,566th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Brandywine Bay NC | 1,313 | $105K | 1.2% | 12.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,564 | West Beaver Township PA | 1,145 | $50K | 12.7% | 0.7% | 2% | D |
| 2,565 | Rush Township PA | 1,155 | $62K | 17.9% | 1.7% | 3% | D |
| 2,566 | Barker Heights NC | 1,074 | $29K | 49.7% | 3.3% | 1% | D |
| 2,567 | Olivet TN | 1,377 | $67K | 21.0% | 0.0% | 1% | D |
| 2,568 | Loup City NE | 1,026 | $53K | 11.8% | 7.7% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Barker Heights, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work next door: 25% of Barker Heights’ workers
The biggest share goes to Hendersonville (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barker Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barker Heights | – | D | C+ | 16 min | $29,277 |
| Hendersonville | 22% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $53,449 |
| East Flat Rock | 3% | C | B+ | 18 min | $59,583 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Barker Heights’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 Barker Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Barker Heights?
$29,277 (±$11,640) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barker Heights?
49.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barker Heights?
16 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barker Heights work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hendersonville (22%, 1 mi), Asheville (13%, 19 mi), Charlotte (4%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barker Heights walkable?
Barker Heights is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barker Heights without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barker Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barker Heights
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.