Trinity Methodist Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Elizabethtown are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Elizabethtown grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Elizabethtown is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 33.0% (North Carolina 13.0%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown is where the jobs are
Elizabethtown has 3,043 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,000 people are in town, 51% more than the 3,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Elizabethtown workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Elizabethtown are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. 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.
Where Elizabethtown’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elizabethtown is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #211 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Elizabethtown’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($29,375, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elizabethtown could be anywhere from C− to C.
Elizabethtown fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,096 residents head out to work, 269 work right here, and 2,774 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Elizabethtown on a workday afternoon, 51% more than live here.
2.2 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.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Elizabethtown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elizabethtown workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,048 commuters (the 0% 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.
Where Elizabethtown’s workforce comes from
Where Elizabethtown clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Elizabethtown: 3,043 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elizabethtown, 2013 → 2023: 3,093 → 3,043. 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 Elizabethtown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Elizabethtown to work
About 28% 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.
Driving is how Elizabethtown gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elizabethtown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #157 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,048 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). 21.3% of Elizabethtown households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elizabethtown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Elizabethtown next to U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500: 3,537th of 4,593 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,535 | Attica IN | 3,290 | $69K | 16.6% | 5.5% | 21% | C− |
| 3,536 | Vinton LA | 3,115 | $42K | 32.7% | 3.6% | 13% | C− |
| 3,537 | Elizabethtown NC | 3,306 | $29K | 33.0% | 0.0% | 20% | C− |
| 3,538 | Moorefield WV | 2,655 | $49K | 8.1% | 5.3% | 42% | C− |
| 3,539 | Arcadia WI | 3,840 | $75K | 16.5% | 5.6% | 21% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Elizabethtown, 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 Elizabethtown: questions
What is the median household income in Elizabethtown?
$29,375 (±$9,800) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elizabethtown?
33.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elizabethtown?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elizabethtown work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (6%, 38 mi), Wilmington (5%, 50 mi), Lumberton (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elizabethtown walkable?
Elizabethtown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elizabethtown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elizabethtown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elizabethtown
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.