Gaston School · Photo: Frank Womble · CC BY-SA 4.0Gaston draws 574 commuters a day, with 1.8 jobs for every working resident
Only 3% stay in Gaston for work; outside it, Roanoke Rapids is the main destination (21%, 3 miles). Gaston has 585 jobs; 317 of its residents have a job. A typical one-way commute from Gaston lasts 19 minutes (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Gaston apart on work
Gaston is where the jobs are
Gaston has 585 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Gaston and Roanoke Rapids trade workers both ways
Roanoke Rapids is the top workplace for Gaston residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Gaston come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 317 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Gaston fills up on a workday
On a workday 306 residents head out to work and 11 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Gaston on a workday afternoon, 28% more 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.
Where Gaston’s workers come from
Where Gaston clocks in
5% 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.
Half of Gaston commutes less than 17 miles
About 36% 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 jobs in Gaston are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gaston, 2013 → 2023: 365 → 585. 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 Gaston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes to work from Gaston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gaston workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 271 commuters (the 14% 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 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 Gaston: questions
What is the median household income in Gaston?
$42,105 (±$10,637) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gaston?
27.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gaston?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gaston work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roanoke Rapids (21%, 3 mi), Raleigh (5%, 72 mi), Greenville (4%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gaston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gaston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gaston
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.