Photo: 336photog · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Jamestown (0.7%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns. Jamestown grades A+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 2.5% of residents (North Carolina 13.0%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Jamestown in brief
Jamestown trades workers with the towns around it
Jamestown has about as many jobs (1,855) as working residents (1,711), but they are mostly different people: 1,661 residents leave for work each day while 1,805 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Jamestown are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Much of Jamestown works one town over
52% of working residents work in a town that borders Jamestown: Greensboro (36%) and High Point (16%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Jamestown are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Jamestown makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Jamestown are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Jamestown residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Jamestown’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jamestown is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #2 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($104,844, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jamestown could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Jamestown by day and by night
On a workday 1,661 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 1,805 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 (1.08 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.
How long Jamestown spends getting to work: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jamestown workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,841 commuters (the 13% 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.
In Jamestown, 36% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
1,855 jobs are based in Jamestown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jamestown, 2013 → 2023: 2,233 → 1,855. 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 Jamestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
36% of working residents work in Greensboro
Where Jamestown clocks in
36% 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.
Half of Jamestown commutes less than 9 miles
About 18% 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.
Jamestown is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jamestown is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #179 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of 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 2,124 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.3% of Jamestown households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jamestown’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Jamestown ranks: 84th of 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Pennsbury Township PA | 3,879 | $168K | 2.3% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 83 | Braddock Heights MD | 2,892 | $124K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 84 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 85 | Mariemont OH | 3,499 | $152K | 3.9% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| 86 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Lowesville NC | 3,874 | $114K | 4.1% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Jamestown, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
52% of Jamestown works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Greensboro (36%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jamestown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown | – | A+ | C+ | 13 min | $104,844 |
| High Point | 16% | C+ | B | 21 min | $64,561 |
| Greensboro | 36% | C+ | A− | 22 min | $61,515 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jamestown’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 Jamestown: questions
What is the median household income in Jamestown?
$104,844 (±$47,854) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jamestown?
2.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jamestown?
13 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jamestown work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greensboro (36%, 9 mi), High Point (16%, 3 mi), Winston-Salem (8%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jamestown walkable?
Jamestown is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jamestown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jamestown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jamestown
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.