Photo: Mikeiamunion21 · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Garner (6.2%) than in 76% of U.S. towns
24% of workers have no commute at all, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. Garner grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Garner is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Garner apart on work
Garner has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Garner went from 14,735 in 2013 to 25,026 in 2023, +70%. The jobs ↓
Garner and Raleigh trade workers both ways
Raleigh is the top workplace for Garner residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Garner come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Garner is where the jobs are
Garner has 25,026 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
46% of the jobs in Garner are in trade, transport and utilities, against 20% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Garner draws workers from far and wide
The 25,026 jobs in Garner are filled from a wide area. Garner’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Garner’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garner is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #108 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Garner’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garner could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Jobs in Garner: what the 25,026 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garner, 2013 → 2023: 14,735 → 25,026. 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 Garner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Garner’s workers come from
Where Garner clocks in
37% 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.
Garner on a workday afternoon
On a workday 15,029 residents head out to work, 1,375 work right here, and 23,651 people come in from elsewhere.
About 50,000 people are in Garner on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Garner’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garner workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,909 commuters (the 24% 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.
The distance from Garner to work
About 15% 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.
In Garner, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garner is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #84 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 16,978 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.6% of Garner households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Garner’s commuters take a bus or train.
Garner places 646th of 1,037 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 29,000 to 56,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Matthews NC | 32,769 | $109K | 3.7% | 2.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Morrisville NC | 32,466 | $125K | 3.1% | 3.3% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Cornelius NC | 35,094 | $114K | 5.4% | 2.4% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 644 | Kennesaw GA | 37,970 | $83K | 10.3% | 6.1% | 5% | B |
| 645 | Woodlawn MD | 40,379 | $82K | 11.6% | 6.1% | 6% | B |
| 646 | Garner NC | 41,562 | $79K | 8.4% | 6.2% | 8% | B |
| 647 | Ewing Township NJ | 39,030 | $91K | 11.9% | 6.9% | 8% | B |
| 648 | Reynoldsburg OH | 43,350 | $73K | 12.0% | 4.7% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,037 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Garner, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns next door employ 37% of Garner
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garner workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garner | – | B | B | 26 min | $78,756 |
| Raleigh | 37% | B | A | 23 min | $85,395 |
| Fuquay-Varina | under 2% | A− | B+ | 33 min | $115,497 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Raleigh. Darker towns draw more of Garner’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 Garner: questions
What is the median household income in Garner?
$78,756 (±$8,951) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garner?
8.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garner?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garner work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (37%, 10 mi), Cary (9%, 13 mi), Durham (7%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garner walkable?
Garner is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garner without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garner
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.