Households in Fairplains earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 36.3%, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. Fairplains grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 1% work in Fairplains; the top destination outside it is Wilkesboro (22%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Fairplains apart
Few Fairplains workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Fairplains workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Fairplains’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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; with 775 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Fairplains: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Fairplains is better than 5% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Fairplains’ grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (12.3%) is left out: Fairplains’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fairplains could be anywhere from D− to D.
About 25 minutes each way for Fairplains’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairplains workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 539 commuters (the 2% 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.
What work there is in Fairplains: 254 jobs
254 jobs are based in Fairplains.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairplains, 2013 → 2023: 185 → 254. 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 Fairplains’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Fairplains on a workday
On a workday 767 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Fairplains on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.33 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 the trip to work from Fairplains ends
Where Fairplains clocks in
22% 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.
Fairplains’ commute, mile by mile
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.
For most of Fairplains, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairplains is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. 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 548 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). 4.6% of Fairplains households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fairplains’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Fairplains compares with U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,865 | Croswell MI | 2,263 | $55K | 17.1% | 11.6% | 16% | D |
| 4,866 | Green Township OH | 1,673 | $42K | 21.3% | 2.3% | 10% | D |
| 4,867 | Fairplains NC | 1,803 | $39K | 36.3% | 12.3% | 1% | D |
| 4,868 | Las Lomas TX | 2,154 | $25K | 37.0% | 14.0% | 1% | D |
| 4,869 | Cave City KY | 2,398 | $28K | 29.9% | 7.1% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Fairplains, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
16% of Fairplains works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairplains workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairplains | – | D | C | 25 min | $38,585 |
| North Wilkesboro | 16% | D | A− | 15 min | $38,474 |
| Mulberry | under 2% | C− | D− | 22 min | $51,919 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Wilkesboro. Darker towns draw more of Fairplains’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 Fairplains: questions
What is the median household income in Fairplains?
$38,585 (±$6,470) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairplains?
36.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairplains?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairplains work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkesboro (22%, 4 mi), North Wilkesboro (16%, 2 mi), Charlotte (5%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairplains walkable?
Fairplains is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairplains without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairplains, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairplains
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.