Households in Icard earn less than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Icard D; getting around on foot earns it D. 18.4% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.0% across North Carolina. For 2% 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
What sets Icard apart on work
Icard trades workers with the towns around it
Icard has about as many jobs (1,030) as working residents (1,056), but they are mostly different people: 1,011 residents leave for work each day while 985 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Icard are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Icard makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in Icard are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Icard residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Icard has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Icard went from 655 in 2013 to 1,030 in 2023, +57%. The jobs ↓
Few Icard workers work from home
Only 2% 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Icard
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Icard is better than 11% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Icard’s grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (13.9%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Icard could be anywhere from D to B+.
A workday in Icard: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,011 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 985 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 (0.98 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.
A place that makes things: 55% of Icard’s jobs are in goods
1,030 jobs are based in Icard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Icard, 2013 → 2023: 655 → 1,030. 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 Icard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Icard: 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 Icard workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 950 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.
22% of working residents work in Hickory
Where Icard clocks in
22% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Miles to work from Icard
About 17% 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.
Icard is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Icard is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Icard 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 964 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). 8.8% of Icard households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Icard’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900, Icard comes 4,543rd on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,541 | Afton NY | 2,719 | $52K | 12.1% | 7.8% | 9% | D |
| 4,542 | Union Township OH | 1,999 | $53K | 26.4% | 4.1% | 1% | D |
| 4,543 | Icard NC | 2,153 | $45K | 18.4% | 13.9% | 4% | D |
| 4,544 | L'Anse MI | 1,922 | $52K | 10.8% | 8.1% | 18% | D |
| 4,545 | Sandoval Township IL | 2,140 | $55K | 20.2% | 5.2% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | 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 Icard, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Icard and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Icard’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 Icard: questions
What is the median household income in Icard?
$44,641 (±$11,202) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Icard?
18.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Icard?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Icard work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (22%, 8 mi), Morganton (9%, 14 mi), Valdese (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Icard walkable?
Icard is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Icard without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Icard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Icard
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.