Photo: Cscdavidson · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Davidson earn more than those in 97% of U.S. towns
7.0% of residents are in poverty, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. Davidson grades A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 31% of workers; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Davidson, in brief
A lot of Davidson works from home
31% of Davidson workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
Davidson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Davidson went from 5,329 in 2013 to 8,539 in 2023, +60%. The jobs ↓
Davidson and Charlotte trade workers both ways
Charlotte is the top workplace for Davidson residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Davidson come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Davidson’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Davidson is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #33 of 290 in North Carolina. Household income is its strongest input ($166,556, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Davidson could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Each way, about 24 minutes from Davidson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Davidson workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,089 commuters (the 31% 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.
65% of the jobs in Davidson pay over $3,333 a month
8,539 jobs are based in Davidson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Davidson, 2013 → 2023: 5,329 → 8,539. 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 Davidson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
34% of working residents work in Charlotte
Where Davidson clocks in
34% of workers
6% 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.
Davidson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 5,197 residents head out to work, 785 work right here, and 7,754 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Davidson on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Davidson
About 17% 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.
Davidson is more walkable than 95% 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 7,347 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 51% 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 14.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 5.4% of Davidson households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Davidson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,888 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 22,000, Davidson comes 485th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 483 | Stillwater MN | 19,354 | $106K | 7.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| 484 | Weehawken Township NJ | 17,827 | $128K | 7.3% | 4.9% | 5% | A |
| 485 | Davidson NC | 16,662 | $167K | 7.0% | 4.1% | 13% | A− |
| 486 | Readington Township NJ | 16,406 | $158K | 3.3% | 5.9% | 8% | A− |
| 487 | Montgomery IL | 21,978 | $104K | 6.7% | 3.4% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Davidson, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Davidson: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Cornelius (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Davidson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson | – | A− | A | 24 min | $166,556 |
| Cornelius | 6% | A | A− | 25 min | $113,767 |
| Kannapolis | under 2% | B | B+ | 26 min | $73,836 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Davidson’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 Davidson: questions
What is the median household income in Davidson?
$166,556 (±$28,347) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Davidson?
7.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Davidson?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Davidson work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (34%, 19 mi), Huntersville (6%, 6 mi), Mooresville (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Davidson walkable?
Davidson is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Davidson without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Davidson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Davidson
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.