At 9.1%, unemployment in Cajah's Mountain is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Cajah's Mountain are D for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. 3% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cajah's Mountain and work: the main findings
Cajah's Mountain and Lenoir trade workers both ways
Lenoir is the top workplace for Cajah's Mountain residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Cajah's Mountain come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Cajah's Mountain workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Cajah's Mountain empties out on a workday
About 1,900 people are in Cajah's Mountain on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than the 2,700 who live here: 1,200 head out to work and 380 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Cajah's Mountain: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cajah's Mountain is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #250 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Cajah's Mountain’s grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cajah's Mountain could be anywhere from D to B−.
20% of working residents work in Lenoir
Where Cajah's Mountain clocks in
14% 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.
About 27 minutes each way for Cajah's Mountain’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cajah's Mountain workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,196 commuters (the 3% 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 commutes out of Cajah's Mountain, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,183 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 376 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Cajah's Mountain on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.33 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 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Cajah's Mountain: 389 jobs
389 jobs are based in Cajah's Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cajah's Mountain, 2014 → 2024: 509 → 389. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cajah's Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Cajah's Mountain commutes
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Cajah's Mountain gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cajah's Mountain is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #229 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Cajah's Mountain near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,235 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). 5.4% of Cajah's Mountain households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cajah's Mountain’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600, Cajah's Mountain ranks 3,982nd of 4,797 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 391 | Swepsonville NC | 2,632 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,980 | Dunkard Township PA | 2,047 | $57K | 12.9% | 6.0% | 4% | D |
| 3,981 | Slater-Marietta SC | 2,381 | $42K | 29.9% | 4.9% | 2% | D |
| 3,982 | Cajah's Mountain NC | 2,702 | $53K | 13.9% | 9.1% | 1% | D |
| 3,983 | Millersburg OH | 3,295 | $43K | 15.5% | 6.4% | 19% | D |
| 3,984 | Winters TX | 2,263 | $49K | 19.0% | 3.7% | 19% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Cajah's Mountain, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns next door employ 20% of Cajah's Mountain
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cajah's Mountain workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cajah's Mountain | – | D | C− | 27 min | $53,361 |
| Lenoir | 20% | C− | C | 25 min | $49,910 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lenoir. Darker towns draw more of Cajah's Mountain’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 2024, 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 Cajah's Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Cajah's Mountain?
$53,361 (±$5,400) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cajah's Mountain?
13.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cajah's Mountain?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cajah's Mountain work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lenoir (20%, 4 mi), Hickory (14%, 14 mi), Hudson (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Cajah's Mountain walkable?
Cajah's Mountain is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cajah's Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cajah's Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cajah's Mountain
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.