With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of High Shoals works elsewhere
High Shoals has 26 jobs, against 297 working residents. Hardly any work in High Shoals itself; outside it, Gastonia draws the most (24%, 10 miles). 7% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: High Shoals in brief
High Shoals is a place people come home to
There are 26 jobs based in High Shoals, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday High Shoals has about 370 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from High Shoals are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. 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 297 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
High Shoals quiets down on a workday
On a workday 296 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 25 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in High Shoals on a workday afternoon, 43% fewer 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of High Shoals workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 169 commuters (the 7% 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 places High Shoals commutes to
Where High Shoals clocks in
24% of workers
21% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in High Shoals: what the 26 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in High Shoals, 2013 → 2023: 35 → 26. 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 High Shoals’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from High Shoals
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.
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 High Shoals: questions
What is the median household income in High Shoals?
$53,333 (±$31,617) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in High Shoals?
23.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from High Shoals?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in High Shoals work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gastonia (24%, 10 mi), Charlotte (21%, 24 mi), Raleigh (3%, 147 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around High Shoals without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from High Shoals, from the people who make the trip.
More of High Shoals
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.