Hudson Cotton Manufacturing Company · Photo: Bigdaverhuberg · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 2.1 jobs in Hudson for every working resident, and 3,409 people commute in
Hudson has 3,535 jobs, and 1,689 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Hudson is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (C−). Only 7% work in Hudson itself; outside it, Lenoir draws the most (19%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hudson at work: what stands out
Hudson is where the jobs are
Hudson has 3,535 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,600 people are in town, 49% more than the 3,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Hudson and Lenoir trade workers both ways
Lenoir is the top workplace for Hudson residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Hudson come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Hudson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hudson went from 2,435 in 2013 to 3,535 in 2023, +45%. The jobs ↓
Hudson makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Hudson are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hudson residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Hudson earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Hudson’s grade up (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hudson could be anywhere from D to A.
Hudson by day and by night
On a workday 1,563 residents head out to work and 126 work right here.
About 5,600 people are in Hudson on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
2.1 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 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Hudson, and from where
Where Hudson clocks in
15% 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.
In Hudson, 36% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hudson, 2013 → 2023: 2,435 → 3,535. 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 Hudson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Hudson: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hudson workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,851 commuters (the 9% 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 Hudson
About 21% 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 of Hudson commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,029 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). 1.7% of Hudson households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hudson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100, Hudson comes 2,654th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,652 | Wilmington Township IN | 4,074 | $69K | 15.7% | 4.3% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,653 | East Penn Township PA | 2,812 | $70K | 10.1% | 6.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,654 | Hudson NC | 3,786 | $65K | 13.6% | 4.3% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,655 | Concord Township MI | 2,721 | $64K | 12.4% | 4.1% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,656 | Richmond NY | 3,275 | $79K | 6.8% | 8.3% | 9% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Hudson, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 21% of Hudson’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Lenoir. Darker towns draw more of Hudson’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 Hudson: questions
What is the median household income in Hudson?
$65,268 (±$30,640) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hudson?
13.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hudson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hudson work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lenoir (19%, 4 mi), Hickory (15%, 12 mi), Charlotte (5%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hudson walkable?
Hudson is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hudson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hudson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hudson
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.