Forest Hills has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, next to 25 for North Carolina and 26 for the U.S. Forest Hills has 14 jobs for 64 working residents. Below the poverty line: 23.7% of residents, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Forest Hills
On a workday 64 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 14 people come in from elsewhere.
About 280 people are in Forest Hills on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in Cullowhee
Where Forest Hills clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Forest Hills
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest Hills, 2013 → 2023: 15 → 14. 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 Hills’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Forest Hills spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest Hills workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 118 commuters (the 13% 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.
Miles to work from Forest Hills
About 44% 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.
Work next door: 13% of Forest Hills’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest Hills workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hills | – | — | — | 20 min | $90,313 |
| Cullowhee | 13% | D | A | 19 min | $35,929 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cullowhee. Darker towns draw more of Forest Hills’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 Hills: questions
What is the median household income in Forest Hills?
$90,313 (±$53,940) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest Hills?
23.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest Hills?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest Hills work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cullowhee (13%, 1 mi), Sylva (8%, 6 mi), Charlotte (8%, 134 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Forest Hills 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 Forest Hills, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest Hills
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.