Photo: Beyonce245 of English Wikipedia. · Public domainGreensboro has lower household incomes than 71% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 17.0% of residents, next to 13.0% across North Carolina. Jobs and income earn Greensboro C+; getting around on foot earns it A−. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 1.0 in High Point.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Greensboro, in a few figures
The four measures behind Greensboro’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greensboro is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #159 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Greensboro’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greensboro could be anywhere from C to B−.
In and out of Greensboro on a workday
On a workday 63,816 residents head out to work, 57,484 work right here, and 127,613 people come in from elsewhere.
About 372,000 people are in Greensboro 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 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Greensboro
Where Greensboro clocks in
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.
What the 185,097 jobs in Greensboro are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greensboro, 2014 → 2024: 173,931 → 185,097. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Greensboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Greensboro
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greensboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 126,807 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Greensboro
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Greensboro
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greensboro is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #32 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Greensboro near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 147,182 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 10% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 8.2% of Greensboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Greensboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Greensboro is 54th among 71 U.S. towns of 216,000 to 417,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Durham NC | 305,561 | $82K | 11.7% | 3.8% | 42% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Corpus Christi TX | 317,247 | $67K | 17.1% | 5.1% | 62% | C+ |
| 53 | Wichita KS | 400,987 | $65K | 15.9% | 5.6% | 66% | C+ |
| 54 | Greensboro NC | 308,667 | $62K | 17.0% | 5.1% | 47% | C+ |
| 55 | Richmond VA | 237,257 | $65K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 35% | C+ |
| 56 | Stockton CA | 324,597 | $80K | 15.5% | 8.6% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Winston-Salem NC | 257,271 | $59K | 17.7% | 5.7% | 46% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Greensboro, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Greensboro and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to High Point (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Greensboro workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greensboro | – | C+ | A− | 22 min | $61,515 |
| Summerfield | under 1% | A | B− | 28 min | $160,275 |
| McLeansville | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Jamestown | under 1% | A+ | C+ | 13 min | $104,844 |
| High Point | 6% | C+ | B | 21 min | $64,561 |
| Forest Oaks | under 1% | A− | C | 22 min | $107,604 |
| Kernersville | 2% | B | C+ | 23 min | $71,918 |
| Oak Ridge | under 1% | A+ | B− | 21 min | $155,385 |
Same-state neighbors only. McLeansville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Greensboro’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 2024, 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 Greensboro: questions
What is the median household income in Greensboro?
$61,515 (±$1,510) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greensboro?
17.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greensboro?
22 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 Greensboro work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are High Point (6%, 12 mi), Charlotte (5%, 83 mi), Winston-Salem (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Greensboro walkable?
Greensboro is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greensboro without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greensboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greensboro
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.