Photo: NS777 · CC BY 4.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Jonesville’s
18.7% of residents live below the poverty line (North Carolina 13.0%). Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Jonesville grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jonesville: the figures worth knowing
Stores, warehouses and trucking
58% of the jobs in Jonesville are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Jonesville
52% of Jonesville residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 32% of the jobs based in Jonesville pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Few Jonesville workers work from home
Only 3% 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 975 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Jonesville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jonesville is better than 6% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Jonesville’s grade up (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($29,837, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jonesville could be anywhere from D− to C+.
What the 1,202 jobs in Jonesville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jonesville, 2013 → 2023: 1,666 → 1,202. 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 Jonesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jonesville’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jonesville workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,108 commuters (the 3% 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 daily flow of workers through Jonesville
On a workday 920 residents head out to work, 55 work right here, and 1,147 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Jonesville on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 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.
13% of working residents work in Elkin
Where Jonesville clocks in
13% 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.
How far Jonesville goes to work
About 26% 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 Jonesville walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jonesville is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,140 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). 17.5% of Jonesville households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Jonesville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Jonesville sits among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 170 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,062 | Reed City MI | 2,528 | $52K | 19.9% | 10.9% | 17% | D |
| 5,063 | Granville NY | 2,416 | $47K | 20.7% | 6.6% | 14% | D |
| 5,064 | Jonesville NC | 2,356 | $30K | 18.7% | 7.7% | 6% | D |
| 5,065 | Kettle Falls WA | 1,657 | $49K | 14.5% | 7.3% | 10% | D |
| 5,066 | Covert Township MI | 2,499 | $38K | 30.1% | 3.3% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | 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 Jonesville, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Jonesville and its neighbors: 13% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jonesville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonesville | – | D | B+ | 23 min | $29,837 |
| Elkin | 13% | C− | C+ | 26 min | $60,740 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Elkin. Darker towns draw more of Jonesville’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 Jonesville: questions
What is the median household income in Jonesville?
$29,837 (±$9,545) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jonesville?
18.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jonesville?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jonesville work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkin (13%, 2 mi), Winston-Salem (10%, 33 mi), Yadkinville (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jonesville walkable?
Jonesville is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jonesville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jonesville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jonesville
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.