Photo: Westla · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Gamewell trail those of 91% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole. Poverty touches 21.5% of residents (North Carolina 13.0%). For jobs and income Gamewell is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (D).
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 Gamewell
Gamewell workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 115 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Jobs in Gamewell have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Gamewell went from 404 in 2013 to 844 in 2023, +109%. The jobs ↓
Few Gamewell 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 ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Gamewell earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Gamewell’s grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,556, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gamewell could be anywhere from D− to B−.
About 40 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gamewell workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,696 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.
In Gamewell, 29% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
844 jobs are based in Gamewell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gamewell, 2013 → 2023: 404 → 844. 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 Gamewell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Gamewell
On a workday 1,520 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 808 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in Gamewell on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
24% of working residents work in Lenoir
Where Gamewell clocks in
10% 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.
How far it is to work from Gamewell
About 22% 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 Gamewell commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,737 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). 9.0% of Gamewell households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gamewell’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, and where Gamewell sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,889 | Weedpatch CA | 2,685 | $22K | 46.5% | 22.0% | 2% | D |
| 3,890 | Windsor MO | 2,869 | $50K | 24.2% | 4.7% | 26% | D |
| 3,891 | Gamewell NC | 3,713 | $47K | 21.5% | 5.7% | 2% | D |
| 3,892 | Perkins OK | 3,271 | $35K | 32.0% | 4.2% | 11% | D |
| 3,893 | California PA | 4,615 | $49K | 28.9% | 10.8% | 11% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Gamewell, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work next door: 24% of Gamewell’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Lenoir. Darker towns draw more of Gamewell’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 Gamewell: questions
What is the median household income in Gamewell?
$46,556 (±$17,194) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gamewell?
21.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gamewell?
40 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 Gamewell work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lenoir (24%, 5 mi), Hickory (10%, 18 mi), Morganton (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gamewell walkable?
Gamewell is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gamewell without a car?
0% 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 Gamewell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gamewell
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.