China Grove Roller Mill · Photo: Ncpappy · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in China Grove have lower incomes than those in 83% of U.S. towns
China Grove grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Below the poverty line: 17.2% of residents; North Carolina has 13.0%. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
China Grove at work: what stands out
China Grove’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside China Grove is Charlotte, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (348) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside China Grove
57% of China Grove residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in China Grove pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in China Grove pay little
27% of the jobs based in China Grove pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 China Grove’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, China Grove is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #205 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds China Grove’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($54,083, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, China Grove could be anywhere from D to A−.
Half of China Grove commutes less than 16 miles
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 the 1,292 jobs in China Grove are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in China Grove, 2013 → 2023: 1,127 → 1,292. 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 China Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
China Grove on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,126 residents head out to work, 78 work right here, and 1,214 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in China Grove on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.59 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of China Grove: the destinations
Where China Grove clocks in
16% of workers
13% of workers
11% 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.
A commute of about 29 minutes in China Grove
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of China Grove workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,651 commuters (the 7% 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.
In China Grove, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, China Grove is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #183 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 1,783 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% 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). 12.8% of China Grove households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of China Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
China Grove next to U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300: 2,909th of 3,798 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Albia IA | 3,599 | $70K | 14.7% | 5.1% | 26% | C |
| 2,908 | Progreso TX | 5,148 | $46K | 28.4% | 4.4% | 2% | C |
| 2,909 | China Grove NC | 4,650 | $54K | 17.2% | 6.0% | 4% | C |
| 2,910 | Quincy Township PA | 5,283 | $63K | 10.4% | 6.8% | 7% | C |
| 2,911 | Lamar MO | 4,337 | $37K | 32.6% | 0.0% | 30% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | 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 China Grove, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work in the towns next to China Grove
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | China Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Grove | – | C | C | 29 min | $54,083 |
| Landis | under 2% | B+ | C | 27 min | $75,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of China Grove’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 China Grove: questions
What is the median household income in China Grove?
$54,083 (±$18,936) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in China Grove?
17.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from China Grove?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in China Grove work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (16%, 29 mi), Salisbury (13%, 8 mi), Concord (11%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is China Grove walkable?
China Grove is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around China Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from China Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of China Grove
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.