Jobs and the daily commute in Beech Mountain
Only 7% work in Beech Mountain; the top destination outside it is Banner Elk (11%, 4 miles). 30% of workers have no commute at all; North Carolina has 16%. The average commute takes 27 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Beech Mountain apart
Beech Mountain’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beech Mountain workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 256 commuters (the 30% 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.
Who works in Beech Mountain, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 239 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 150 people come in from elsewhere.
About 570 people are in Beech Mountain on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
Where Beech Mountain goes to work
Where Beech Mountain clocks in
9% 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.
What Beech Mountain’s employers do
169 jobs are based in Beech Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beech Mountain, 2013 → 2023: 102 → 169. 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 Beech Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Beech Mountain
About 25% 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.
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 Beech Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Beech Mountain?
$90,855 (±$16,861) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beech Mountain?
6.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beech Mountain?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beech Mountain work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Banner Elk (11%, 4 mi), Boone (9%, 12 mi), Sugar Mountain (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Beech Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beech Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beech Mountain
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.