Photo: Bbarnette · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Kannapolis
Working residents average 26 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). The two grades for Kannapolis are B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Kannapolis; the top destination outside it is Charlotte (29%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Kannapolis at work: what stands out
Inside Kannapolis’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kannapolis is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #114 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Kannapolis’ grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kannapolis could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Where people from Kannapolis work
Where Kannapolis clocks in
29% of workers
17% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Kannapolis
On a workday 22,839 residents head out to work, 2,240 work right here, and 12,184 people come in from elsewhere.
About 51,000 people are in Kannapolis on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The kinds of work in Kannapolis
14,424 jobs are based in Kannapolis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kannapolis, 2013 → 2023: 11,436 → 14,424. 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 Kannapolis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes to work from Kannapolis
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kannapolis workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,108 commuters (the 12% 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.
How far it is to work from Kannapolis
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 Kannapolis commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kannapolis is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #71 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 29,529 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 5.9% of Kannapolis households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kannapolis’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 720 U.S. towns of 43,000 to 83,000, Kannapolis comes 455th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Huntersville NC | 68,535 | $121K | 3.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Apex NC | 80,419 | $144K | 2.2% | 3.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 453 | Blacksburg VA | 45,104 | $50K | 42.7% | 3.1% | 47% | B |
| 454 | Miami Township OH | 52,991 | $80K | 11.5% | 5.2% | 15% | B |
| 455 | Kannapolis NC | 61,708 | $74K | 12.6% | 4.1% | 9% | B |
| 456 | Yucaipa CA | 54,953 | $91K | 9.1% | 7.0% | 11% | B |
| 457 | Antelope CA | 48,301 | $99K | 10.6% | 8.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 720 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Kannapolis, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work next door: 17% of Kannapolis’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kannapolis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kannapolis | – | B | B+ | 26 min | $73,836 |
| Concord | 17% | B | B | 27 min | $86,921 |
| Landis | under 2% | B+ | C | 27 min | $75,000 |
| Enochville | under 2% | B | C− | 25 min | $66,225 |
| Davidson | under 2% | A− | A | 24 min | $166,556 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Concord. Darker towns draw more of Kannapolis’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 Kannapolis: questions
What is the median household income in Kannapolis?
$73,836 (±$4,039) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kannapolis?
12.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kannapolis?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kannapolis work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (29%, 21 mi), Concord (17%, 6 mi), Salisbury (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kannapolis walkable?
Kannapolis is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kannapolis without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kannapolis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kannapolis
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.