Photo: Precisionviews · CC BY-SA 4.0How Charlotte works: jobs, income and commuting
About two in three stay in Charlotte for work; outside it, Raleigh is the main destination (2%, 130 miles). For 29% of workers, the job is at home, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. At 25 minutes each way, commutes from Charlotte run about the North Carolina average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Charlotte apart
Home offices are common in Charlotte
29% of Charlotte workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
Charlotte is where the jobs are
Charlotte has 667,200 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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.
The four measures behind Charlotte’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charlotte is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #89 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Charlotte’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Charlotte could be anywhere from B to B+.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Charlotte
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charlotte workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 346,961 commuters (the 29% 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.
Charlotte by day and by night
On a workday 145,637 residents head out to work, 261,012 work right here, and 406,188 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,225,000 people are in Charlotte on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Where Charlotte’s workforce comes from
Where Charlotte clocks in
2% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
69% of the jobs in Charlotte pay over $3,333 a month
667,200 jobs are based in Charlotte.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charlotte, 2013 → 2023: 501,026 → 667,200. 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 Charlotte’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Charlotte commutes
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.
Charlotte is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 487,142 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 64% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 17.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.4% of Charlotte households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Charlotte’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Charlotte is 7th of 17 U.S. towns of 675,000 to 1,302,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hempstead NY | 795,734 | $141K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 28% | A |
| 2 | San Jose CA | 989,814 | $146K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 36% | A− |
| 3 | Seattle WA | 784,777 | $124K | 9.9% | 4.6% | 60% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Denver CO | 740,613 | $95K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 45% | B+ |
| 6 | Austin TX | 1,002,632 | $94K | 12.0% | 4.7% | 65% | B+ |
| 7 | Charlotte NC | 964,784 | $82K | 11.7% | 4.6% | 64% | B |
| 8 | Washington DC | 693,645 | $110K | 15.4% | 6.3% | 69% | B |
| 9 | Fort Worth TX | 1,028,117 | $80K | 13.1% | 4.8% | 37% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | El Paso TX | 683,012 | $60K | 18.4% | 6.0% | 79% | C |
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 Charlotte, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Charlotte and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charlotte workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | – | B | A | 25 min | $82,068 |
| Matthews | 1% | A+ | B | 25 min | $108,611 |
| Pineville | 1% | B− | A+ | 24 min | $69,354 |
| Mint Hill | under 1% | A− | B− | 29 min | $100,860 |
| Marvin | under 1% | A | B− | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| Weddington | under 1% | A+ | B− | 28 min | $190,766 |
| Huntersville | 2% | A | B+ | 27 min | $120,516 |
| Harrisburg | under 1% | A+ | A− | 30 min | $148,254 |
| Concord | 2% | B | B | 27 min | $86,921 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Huntersville. Darker towns draw more of Charlotte’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 Charlotte: questions
What is the median household income in Charlotte?
$82,068 (±$1,299) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charlotte?
11.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charlotte?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charlotte work?
64% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (2%, 130 mi), Concord (2%, 17 mi), Huntersville (2%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charlotte walkable?
Charlotte is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charlotte without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charlotte, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charlotte
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.