Murray's Mill Historic District · Photo: G Keith Hall · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Catawba
Only 1% stay in Catawba for work; outside it, Hickory is the main destination (11%, 14 miles). 5% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across North Carolina. The trip to work takes 30 minutes on average, 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
The work figures that set Catawba apart
Catawba makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Catawba are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Catawba residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Catawba pay better than its residents’ jobs
72% of the jobs based in Catawba pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 55% of the jobs Catawba residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Catawba. The jobs ↓
Catawba workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 388 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
In Catawba, 52% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
314 jobs are based in Catawba.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Catawba, 2013 → 2023: 219 → 314. 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 Catawba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes to work from Catawba
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Catawba workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 262 commuters (the 5% 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 daily commute in and out of Catawba
On a workday 384 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 310 people come in from elsewhere.
About 660 people are in Catawba on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 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.
Where Catawba goes to work
Where Catawba clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
The commute from Catawba, by distance
About 15% 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 Catawba: questions
What is the median household income in Catawba?
$47,250 (±$39,733) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Catawba?
21.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Catawba?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Catawba work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (11%, 14 mi), Newton (7%, 10 mi), Charlotte (6%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Catawba 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 Catawba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Catawba
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.