Erwin Commercial Historic District · Photo: Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Erwin have lower incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
At home: 4% of workers have no commute at all (North Carolina 16%). 12.2% of residents are in poverty, against 13.0% across North Carolina. For jobs and income Erwin is better than 42% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Erwin, in brief
Erwin trades workers with the towns around it
Erwin has about as many jobs (1,632) as working residents (1,880), but they are mostly different people: 1,794 residents leave for work each day while 1,546 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Erwin are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Erwin’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Erwin is Raleigh, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (202) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
50% of the jobs in Erwin are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Erwin
53% of Erwin residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 30% of the jobs based in Erwin pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Erwin workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Erwin
Unemployment holds Erwin’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($50,701, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Erwin could be anywhere from C to B.
Who works in Erwin, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,794 residents head out to work, 86 work right here, and 1,546 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 (0.87 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 Erwin’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
The 1,632 jobs based in Erwin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Erwin, 2013 → 2023: 1,170 → 1,632. 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 Erwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Erwin’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Erwin workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,024 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.
11% of working residents work in Raleigh
Where Erwin clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
In Erwin, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 2,109 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). 2.7% of Erwin households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Erwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700, Erwin ranks 2,274th of 3,692 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 194 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 291 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,272 | Pittstown NY | 5,472 | $92K | 13.2% | 5.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,273 | Hamilton MT | 5,451 | $49K | 8.8% | 2.0% | 45% | C+ |
| 2,274 | Erwin NC | 4,956 | $51K | 12.2% | 2.4% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,275 | Warrenton OR | 6,312 | $71K | 7.0% | 4.0% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,276 | Penn Yan NY | 5,272 | $60K | 12.8% | 1.6% | 31% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | 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 Erwin, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door to Erwin
The biggest share goes to Dunn (9%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Erwin’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 Erwin: questions
What is the median household income in Erwin?
$50,701 (±$6,887) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Erwin?
12.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Erwin?
32 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 Erwin work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (11%, 35 mi), Dunn (9%, 4 mi), Fayetteville (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Erwin walkable?
Erwin is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Erwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Erwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Erwin
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.