Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY-SA 4.0A job hub: Conover has 2.8 jobs per working resident, and 9,876 people come in to work
The two grades for Conover are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Conover has 10,293 jobs; 3,732 of its residents have a job. For 4% of workers, the job is at home; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Conover in brief
Conover is where the jobs are
Conover has 10,293 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 15,000 people are in town, 73% more than the 8,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Conover makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Conover are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Conover residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Conover draws workers from far and wide
The 10,293 jobs in Conover are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 25%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of Conover works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Conover: Hickory (22%) and Newton (9%). Next door ↓
Few Conover workers work from home
Only 4% 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.
Inside Conover’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Conover is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #136 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Conover’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Conover could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who works in Conover, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,315 residents head out to work and 417 work right here.
About 15,000 people are in Conover on a workday afternoon, 73% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Conover makes things: 52% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Conover, 2013 → 2023: 8,490 → 10,293. 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 Conover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Conover’s workforce comes from
Where Conover clocks in
22% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
From Conover, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Conover workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,277 commuters (the 4% 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.
Half of Conover commutes less than 8 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.
The commute in Conover is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Conover is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #127 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Conover 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 3,416 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). 6.1% of Conover households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Conover’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Conover is 1,763rd of 2,862 U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 364 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,761 | Healdsburg CA | 11,172 | $104K | 11.6% | 7.8% | 21% | B− |
| 1,762 | Zebulon NC | 11,933 | $79K | 9.0% | 7.1% | 6% | B− |
| 1,763 | Conover NC | 8,938 | $66K | 15.7% | 3.3% | 11% | B− |
| 1,764 | Seabrook NH | 8,430 | $84K | 12.1% | 6.9% | 17% | B− |
| 1,765 | Livonia NY | 7,470 | $89K | 7.7% | 11.0% | 13% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,862 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Conover, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
31% of Conover works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Hickory (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Conover workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conover | – | B− | B− | 19 min | $65,972 |
| Newton | 9% | C | C+ | 22 min | $62,015 |
| St. Stephens | under 2% | B− | C− | 22 min | $60,394 |
| Hickory | 22% | C+ | B | 21 min | $64,576 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Conover’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 Conover: questions
What is the median household income in Conover?
$65,972 (±$9,896) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Conover?
15.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Conover?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Conover work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (22%, 6 mi), Newton (9%, 4 mi), Charlotte (7%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Conover walkable?
Conover is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Conover without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Conover, from the people who make the trip.
More of Conover
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.