King Historic District · Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0At 1.0%, unemployment in King is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
The two grades for King are B+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns. Only 7% stay in King for work; outside it, Winston-Salem is the main destination (35%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: King in brief
King trades workers with the towns around it
King has about as many jobs (2,938) as working residents (3,252), but they are mostly different people: 3,027 residents leave for work each day while 2,713 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in King are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of King works in Winston-Salem
1,131 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Winston-Salem, 13 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in King itself. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside King
57% of King residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in King pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in King
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, King is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #77 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds King’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($57,817, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, King could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Who works in King, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,027 residents head out to work, 225 work right here, and 2,713 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 (0.90 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.
The towns that employ King’s residents
Where King clocks in
6% 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.
Jobs in King: what the 2,938 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in King, 2013 → 2023: 3,674 → 2,938. 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 King’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for King’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of King workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,844 commuters (the 10% 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.
King’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
In King, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, King is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #222 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 3,164 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). 1.8% of King households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of King’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800, King ranks 1,200th of 3,015 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 369 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,198 | Mansfield Township NJ | 7,996 | $89K | 6.8% | 4.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,199 | Fletcher NC | 8,373 | $75K | 7.6% | 3.0% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,200 | King NC | 7,977 | $58K | 7.0% | 1.0% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,201 | Turner ME | 6,127 | $100K | 3.0% | 4.2% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,202 | Freeport ME | 8,934 | $107K | 8.5% | 4.8% | 20% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 King, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
King and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Tobaccoville (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | King workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King | – | B+ | C− | 25 min | $57,817 |
| Tobaccoville | 1% | B+ | D | 21 min | $80,263 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of King’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 King: questions
What is the median household income in King?
$57,817 (±$11,726) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in King?
7.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from King?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in King work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winston-Salem (35%, 13 mi), Greensboro (6%, 32 mi), Charlotte (5%, 78 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is King walkable?
King 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 King without a car?
0% 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 King, from the people who make the trip.
More of King
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.