Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Forest City are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Forest City grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 32.1% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole. 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Forest City
Forest City draws workers from far and wide
The 5,761 jobs in Forest City are filled from a wide area. Forest City’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 78% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Forest City is where the jobs are
Forest City has 5,761 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Forest City’s commute
The biggest draw, Charlotte, gets only 7% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Forest City residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Forest City’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forest City is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #278 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Forest City’s grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($35,524, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest City could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Commuting in to Forest City: where workers come from
Where Forest City clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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 daily commute in and out of Forest City
On a workday 2,462 residents head out to work, 435 work right here, and 5,326 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Forest City on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.0 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.
What the 5,761 jobs in Forest City are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest City, 2013 → 2023: 6,479 → 5,761. 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 Forest City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for Forest City’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,418 commuters (the 6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Forest City
About 25% 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.
Most of Forest City commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest City is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #54 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Forest City near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,572 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). 8.7% of Forest City households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Forest City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Forest City and other U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,011 | Perry FL | 7,330 | $41K | 18.9% | 6.4% | 29% | D− |
| 3,012 | Harrisburg IL | 7,922 | $43K | 29.0% | 9.5% | 26% | D− |
| 3,013 | Forest City NC | 7,410 | $36K | 32.1% | 7.5% | 15% | D− |
| 3,014 | Trinidad CO | 8,091 | $52K | 21.1% | 7.3% | 46% | D− |
| 3,015 | West Point MS | 9,743 | $38K | 25.6% | 11.6% | 31% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Forest City, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Forest City and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Spindale (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest City | – | D− | B+ | 26 min | $35,524 |
| Spindale | 4% | D− | C+ | 25 min | $41,262 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forest City’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 Forest City: questions
What is the median household income in Forest City?
$35,524 (±$5,910) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest City?
32.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest City?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest City work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (7%, 59 mi), Rutherfordton (6%, 6 mi), Spindale (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest City walkable?
Forest City is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest City
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.