Bethlehem has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
There are 822 jobs in Bethlehem, against 1,900 working residents. The two grades for Bethlehem are B for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 4% stay in Bethlehem for work; outside it, Hickory is the main destination (29%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bethlehem in brief
Inside Bethlehem’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethlehem is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #103 of 290 in North Carolina. The poverty rate holds Bethlehem’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethlehem could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Where people from Bethlehem work
Where Bethlehem clocks in
29% of workers
4% 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.
How many people are in Bethlehem by day
On a workday 1,830 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 752 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in Bethlehem on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Bethlehem: what the 822 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethlehem, 2013 → 2023: 746 → 822. 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 Bethlehem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Bethlehem takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethlehem workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,743 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far Bethlehem goes to work
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.
In Bethlehem, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethlehem is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #192 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 1,920 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). 1.1% of Bethlehem households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethlehem’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,626th of 4,023: where Bethlehem ranks among U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,500
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,624 | Fayette Township PA | 3,337 | $75K | 8.1% | 0.0% | 12% | B |
| 1,625 | Fox Township PA | 3,495 | $75K | 6.0% | 1.6% | 16% | B |
| 1,626 | Bethlehem NC | 4,101 | $88K | 4.5% | 6.0% | 4% | B |
| 1,627 | Durham ME | 4,399 | $99K | 4.2% | 6.5% | 6% | B |
| 1,628 | Milton NH | 4,562 | $94K | 8.1% | 3.2% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,023 | 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 Bethlehem, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bethlehem and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethlehem workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | – | B | C | 26 min | $87,795 |
| St. Stephens | under 2% | B− | C− | 22 min | $60,394 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bethlehem’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 Bethlehem: questions
What is the median household income in Bethlehem?
$87,795 (±$14,900) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethlehem?
4.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethlehem?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethlehem work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (29%, 6 mi), Charlotte (4%, 50 mi), Conover (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bethlehem walkable?
Bethlehem is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethlehem without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethlehem, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethlehem
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.