Photo: GreatSmokies · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Bryson City trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
For 1% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across North Carolina. Poverty touches 24.3% of residents, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole. Bryson City grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Bryson City, in brief
Bryson City is where the jobs are
Bryson City has 1,709 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,600 people are in town, 68% more than the 1,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Bryson City 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 Bryson City 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 668 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Bryson City: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Bryson City is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bryson City’s grade.
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Bryson City’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, Bryson City could be anywhere from D− to D.
Who works in Bryson City, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 533 residents head out to work, 135 work right here, and 1,574 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Bryson City on a workday afternoon, 68% more than live here.
2.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The daily trip from Bryson City: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bryson City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 853 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 towns that send workers to Bryson City
Where Bryson City clocks in
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.
Jobs in Bryson City: what the 1,709 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bryson City, 2013 → 2023: 1,367 → 1,709. 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 Bryson City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Bryson City goes to work
About 20% 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.
In Bryson City, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bryson City is more walkable than 40% 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 863 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). 12.4% of Bryson City households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bryson City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bryson City next to U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,378 | Moorhead MS | 1,754 | $35K | 25.6% | 20.1% | 2% | D− |
| 5,379 | Nunda NY | 1,155 | $55K | 32.1% | 3.6% | 11% | D− |
| 5,380 | Bryson City NC | 1,525 | $44K | 24.3% | 1.0% | 20% | D− |
| 5,381 | McConnellsburg PA | 1,112 | $37K | 22.2% | 2.0% | 7% | D− |
| 5,382 | Romney WV | 1,767 | $49K | 25.9% | 10.3% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Bryson City, 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 Bryson City: questions
What is the median household income in Bryson City?
$44,167 (±$7,357) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bryson City?
24.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bryson City?
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 Bryson City work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cherokee (11%, 9 mi), Sylva (4%, 13 mi), Asheville (4%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bryson City walkable?
Bryson City is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bryson City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bryson City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bryson City
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.