Photo: GastoniaHappening Jim Bob Willy · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Gastonia (5.7%) than in 71% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 27 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). Gastonia grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in five stay in Gastonia for work; outside it, Charlotte is the main destination (30%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Gastonia apart
Gastonia trades workers with the towns around it
Gastonia has about as many jobs (44,202) as working residents (37,862), but they are mostly different people: 29,326 residents leave for work each day while 35,666 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Gastonia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Gastonia and Charlotte trade workers both ways
Charlotte is the top workplace for Gastonia residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Gastonia come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Gastonia draws workers from far and wide
The 44,202 jobs in Gastonia are filled from a wide area. Gastonia’s own residents hold 19% and the ten next-biggest home towns 22%; the other 59% 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Gastonia
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gastonia is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #165 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Gastonia’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gastonia could be anywhere from C to B−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 29,326 residents head out to work, 8,536 work right here, and 35,666 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).
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 people from Gastonia work
Where Gastonia clocks in
30% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
What work there is in Gastonia: 44,202 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gastonia, 2013 → 2023: 40,869 → 44,202. 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 Gastonia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Gastonia: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gastonia workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 34,462 commuters (the 12% 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 Gastonia
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 Gastonia, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gastonia is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #112 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 39,142 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 7.9% of Gastonia households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Gastonia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 520 U.S. towns of 61,000 to 118,000, Gastonia comes 407th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Huntersville NC | 68,535 | $121K | 3.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Apex NC | 80,419 | $144K | 2.2% | 3.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 405 | Bethlehem PA | 79,644 | $69K | 15.7% | 6.6% | 20% | C+ |
| 406 | Pompano Beach FL | 117,211 | $67K | 15.2% | 8.0% | 15% | C+ |
| 407 | Gastonia NC | 87,067 | $64K | 16.3% | 5.7% | 23% | C+ |
| 408 | Miami Gardens FL | 113,579 | $64K | 13.6% | 9.0% | 6% | C+ |
| 409 | Greeley CO | 115,073 | $70K | 15.1% | 5.6% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 520 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Gastonia, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Gastonia and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Kings Mountain (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gastonia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastonia | – | C+ | B− | 27 min | $64,059 |
| Springdale | under 2% | C+ | D | 28 min | $55,096 |
| Bessemer City | under 2% | C | C− | 28 min | $60,300 |
| Lowell | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $52,500 |
| Kings Mountain | 1% | C− | B− | 25 min | $49,564 |
| Dallas | under 2% | B− | B− | 25 min | $58,403 |
| Cramerton | under 2% | A− | C+ | 27 min | $82,160 |
| Ranlo | under 2% | B+ | B− | 21 min | $78,033 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gastonia’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 Gastonia: questions
What is the median household income in Gastonia?
$64,059 (±$3,551) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gastonia?
16.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gastonia?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gastonia work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (30%, 20 mi), Raleigh (2%, 148 mi), Belmont (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gastonia walkable?
Gastonia is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gastonia without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gastonia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gastonia
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.