St. John's Episcopal Church · Photo: Tradewinds · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Grifton trail those of 97% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Grifton are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 32.7% of residents live below the poverty line; North Carolina has 13.0%. For 1% of workers, the job is at home, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Grifton, in brief
Grifton and Greenville trade workers both ways
Greenville is the top workplace for Grifton residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Grifton come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Grifton is a place people come home to
There are 221 jobs based in Grifton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Grifton has about 1,800 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Grifton workers work from home
Only 1% 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; with 936 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Grifton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grifton is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #285 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Grifton’s grade up (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (18.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grifton stays D−.
26% of working residents work in Greenville
Where Grifton clocks in
26% 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.
Who leaves Grifton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 904 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 189 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Grifton on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.24 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Grifton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grifton workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,026 commuters (the 1% 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 221 jobs based in Grifton
221 jobs are based in Grifton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grifton, 2013 → 2023: 281 → 221. 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 Grifton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Grifton works
About 27% 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.
Few in Grifton walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grifton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #148 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Grifton 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 1,036 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). 20.5% of Grifton households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grifton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Grifton and other U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 388 | Swepsonville NC | 2,632 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,693 | Marion KY | 2,879 | $39K | 25.1% | 1.7% | 33% | D− |
| 4,694 | Ronan MT | 2,209 | $42K | 21.6% | 4.9% | 28% | D− |
| 4,695 | Grifton NC | 2,539 | $37K | 32.7% | 18.3% | 3% | D− |
| 4,696 | North Crossett AR | 2,556 | $33K | 24.4% | 7.1% | 6% | D− |
| 4,697 | Crownpoint NM | 2,882 | $51K | 31.5% | 6.9% | 24% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Grifton, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Grifton and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Ayden (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Grifton’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 Grifton: questions
What is the median household income in Grifton?
$36,794 (±$7,775) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grifton?
32.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grifton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grifton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (26%, 15 mi), Kinston (10%, 11 mi), Raleigh (5%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grifton walkable?
Grifton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grifton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grifton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grifton
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.