Dempsey-Reynolds-Taylor House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainEden’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
19.2% of residents are in poverty, against 13.0% across North Carolina. The two grades for Eden are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. 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 work figures that set Eden apart
Eden trades workers with the towns around it
Eden has about as many jobs (5,710) as working residents (6,200), but they are mostly different people: 5,046 residents leave for work each day while 4,556 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Eden are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Eden’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Eden is Greensboro, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (803) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Eden draws workers from far and wide
The 5,710 jobs in Eden are filled from a wide area. Eden’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 17%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Few Eden 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.
Jobs & income in Eden: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eden is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #268 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Eden’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,260, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eden could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Eden
On a workday 5,046 residents head out to work, 1,154 work right here, and 4,556 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 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.
How far Eden goes to work
About 27% 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.
13% of working residents work in Greensboro
Where Eden clocks in
13% of workers
4% 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 trip to work from Eden: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eden workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,045 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.
The kinds of work in Eden
5,710 jobs are based in Eden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eden, 2013 → 2023: 7,330 → 5,710. 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 Eden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Eden is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eden is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #200 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of 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 6,312 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). 11.0% of Eden households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eden’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000, and where Eden sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,044 | Lindsay CA | 12,578 | $53K | 33.1% | 17.8% | 15% | D |
| 2,045 | Brunswick GA | 15,730 | $40K | 30.9% | 7.6% | 24% | D |
| 2,046 | Eden NC | 15,500 | $47K | 19.2% | 8.3% | 19% | D |
| 2,047 | Las Vegas NM | 12,574 | $45K | 32.0% | 4.8% | 46% | D |
| 2,048 | Coshocton OH | 11,169 | $49K | 25.9% | 7.4% | 31% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | 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 Eden, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
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 Eden: questions
What is the median household income in Eden?
$47,260 (±$8,635) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eden?
19.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eden?
25 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 Eden work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greensboro (13%, 29 mi), Reidsville (5%, 12 mi), Raleigh (4%, 77 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eden walkable?
Eden is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eden
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.