Mary's Grove · Photo: Bigdaverhuberg · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Lenoir are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Lenoir is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (C). Poverty touches 14.6% of residents, against 13.0% across North Carolina. About one in four work in Lenoir itself; outside it, Hickory draws the most (11%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lenoir apart on work
Lenoir is where the jobs are
Lenoir has 11,842 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Lenoir draws workers from far and wide
The 11,842 jobs in Lenoir are filled from a wide area. Lenoir’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Lenoir’s grade
Unemployment holds Lenoir’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,910, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lenoir could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Lenoir
On a workday 5,386 residents head out to work, 1,782 work right here, and 10,060 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Lenoir on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Lenoir’s workforce comes from
Where Lenoir clocks in
11% 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.
A place that makes things: 31% of Lenoir’s jobs are in goods
11,842 jobs are based in Lenoir.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lenoir, 2013 → 2023: 12,821 → 11,842. 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 Lenoir’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Lenoir: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lenoir workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,578 commuters (the 11% 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.
Lenoir’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.
For most of Lenoir, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% 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 7,399 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). 4.9% of Lenoir households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lenoir’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,915 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000, Lenoir comes 1,631st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,629 | Logansport IN | 18,287 | $47K | 16.1% | 4.3% | 27% | C− |
| 1,630 | Lackawanna NY | 19,452 | $52K | 23.2% | 6.9% | 10% | C− |
| 1,631 | Lenoir NC | 18,372 | $50K | 14.6% | 4.6% | 25% | C− |
| 1,632 | Ellensburg WA | 21,308 | $55K | 22.4% | 8.9% | 41% | C− |
| 1,633 | Calumet Township IL | 17,950 | $50K | 18.3% | 16.8% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Lenoir, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns around Lenoir
The biggest share goes to Hudson (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lenoir workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenoir | – | C− | C | 25 min | $49,910 |
| Hudson | 6% | C+ | C− | 22 min | $65,268 |
| Cajah's Mountain | under 2% | D | C− | 27 min | $53,361 |
| Gamewell | under 2% | D | D | 40 min | $46,556 |
| Sawmills | under 2% | C | D | 23 min | $71,067 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lenoir’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 Lenoir: questions
What is the median household income in Lenoir?
$49,910 (±$6,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lenoir?
14.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lenoir?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lenoir work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (11%, 16 mi), Hudson (6%, 4 mi), Charlotte (5%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lenoir walkable?
Lenoir is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lenoir without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lenoir, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lenoir
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.