Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0There are 2.1 jobs in Dillsboro for every working resident, and 181 people commute in
The trip to work takes 17 minutes on average, next to 25 for North Carolina and 26 for the U.S. Employers in Dillsboro report 182 jobs, against 87 working residents. 4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Dillsboro
On a workday 86 residents head out to work and 1 work right here.
About 310 people are in Dillsboro on a workday afternoon, 44% more than live here.
2.1 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 Dillsboro’s workers come from
Where Dillsboro clocks in
28% of workers
9% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Dillsboro
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dillsboro, 2013 → 2023: 39 → 182. 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 Dillsboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Dillsboro, about 17 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dillsboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 108 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.
Dillsboro’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% 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.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Dillsboro’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Sylva. Darker towns draw more of Dillsboro’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 Dillsboro: questions
What is the median household income in Dillsboro?
$58,516 (±$14,382) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dillsboro?
16.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dillsboro?
17 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 Dillsboro work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sylva (28%, 2 mi), Cullowhee (9%, 6 mi), Franklin (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Dillsboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dillsboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dillsboro
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.