Photo: Gerry D · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.9%, unemployment in Benson is lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
Benson grades B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 7% work in Benson; the top destination outside it is Raleigh (18%, 31 miles). The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, next to 25 for North Carolina and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Benson at work: what stands out
Benson trades workers with the towns around it
Benson has about as many jobs (2,145) as working residents (1,847), but they are mostly different people: 1,709 residents leave for work each day while 2,007 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Benson are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Benson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Benson is Raleigh, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (334) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Why Benson gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Benson is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #138 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Benson’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (14.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Benson could be anywhere from D to B+.
Who works in Benson, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,709 residents head out to work, 138 work right here, and 2,007 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Benson
About 19% 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.
Commuting out of Benson: the destinations
Where Benson clocks in
18% 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 work there is in Benson: 2,145 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Benson, 2013 → 2023: 1,879 → 2,145. 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 Benson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Benson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Benson workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,532 commuters (the 19% 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.
For most of Benson, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Benson is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #195 of 290 in North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,901 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). 5.5% of Benson households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Benson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Benson next to U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300: 2,137th of 3,798 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,135 | Neversink NY | 3,383 | $81K | 8.0% | 3.3% | 14% | B− |
| 2,136 | Rockwell AR | 3,986 | $64K | 11.6% | 3.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,137 | Benson NC | 4,660 | $67K | 14.4% | 2.9% | 7% | B− |
| 2,138 | Brookfield MA | 3,516 | $81K | 8.9% | 6.3% | 5% | B− |
| 2,139 | Ligonier IN | 4,710 | $59K | 6.6% | 4.8% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | 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 Benson, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
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 Benson: questions
What is the median household income in Benson?
$67,102 (±$14,459) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Benson?
14.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Benson?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Benson work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (18%, 31 mi), Smithfield (6%, 14 mi), Dunn (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Benson walkable?
Benson is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Benson 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 Benson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Benson
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.