Family incomes in Cricket trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
Not counting college students, poverty touches 23.4% of residents, next to 12.4% for North Carolina as a whole. Jobs and income earn Cricket D; getting around on foot earns it C−. Hardly any stay in Cricket for work; outside it, Wilkesboro is the main destination (24%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Cricket, in a few figures
A lot of Cricket works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Cricket: Wilkesboro (24%), North Wilkesboro (14%) and Millers Creek (1%). Next door ↓
Cricket is a place people come home to
There are 56 jobs based in Cricket, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Cricket has about 1,700 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Cricket than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Cricket fell from 335 in 2013 to 56 in 2023, −83%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 638 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Cricket’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On family income, poverty and job access, Cricket is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Cricket’s grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); family income pulls it down ($51,392, U.S. $99,999).
16% of Cricket’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (17% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 23.4%, against 27.0% for all residents. Unemployment (3.4%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($51,392), since student households pull the household median down ($39,859).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Cricket could be anywhere from D− to B−.
In and out of Cricket on a workday
On a workday 638 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 56 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Cricket on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.09 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.
Cricket works in goods: 39% of its jobs
56 jobs are based in Cricket.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cricket, 2013 → 2023: 335 → 56. 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 Cricket’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Cricket commutes to
Where Cricket clocks in
24% 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.
Getting to work from Cricket takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cricket workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 958 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far it is to work from Cricket
About 31% 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.
For most of Cricket, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cricket is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Cricket 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 1,051 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). 2.4% of Cricket households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cricket’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Cricket comes 4,758th 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,756 | Lovell WY | 2,351 | $60K | 18.6% | 3.6% | 27% | D |
| 4,757 | Colebrook NH | 2,110 | $51K | 13.3% | 2.9% | 36% | D |
| 4,758 | Cricket NC | 2,317 | $40K | 27.0% | 3.4% | 0% | D |
| 4,759 | Havana IL | 2,799 | $41K | 24.0% | 5.0% | 32% | D |
| 4,760 | Wakefield MI | 1,689 | $56K | 15.0% | 4.1% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Cricket, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
39% of Cricket works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cricket workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cricket | – | D | C− | 19 min | $39,859 |
| Wilkesboro | 24% | C− | A− | 19 min | $40,907 |
| North Wilkesboro | 14% | D | A− | 15 min | $38,474 |
| Millers Creek | 1% | D | D− | 26 min | $63,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wilkesboro. Darker towns draw more of Cricket’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.
- Students. 16% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Cricket: questions
What is the median household income in Cricket?
$39,859 (±$11,681) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cricket?
27.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 23.4%. North Carolina: 13.0%.
How long is the commute from Cricket?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cricket work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkesboro (24%, 2 mi), North Wilkesboro (14%, 3 mi), Winston-Salem (8%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cricket walkable?
Cricket is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cricket without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cricket, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cricket
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.