Light Oak has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole. Employers in Light Oak report 46 jobs for 318 working residents. 31.4% of residents live below the poverty line; North Carolina has 13.0%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Light Oak: the gist
Light Oak is a place people come home to
There are 46 jobs based in Light Oak, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Light Oak has about 5 people in it, 98% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Light Oak and Shelby trade workers both ways
Shelby is the top workplace for Light Oak residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Light Oak come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Light Oak workers work from home
Only 0% 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 318 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
In and out of Light Oak on a workday
On a workday 317 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 45 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5 people are in Light Oak on a workday afternoon, 98% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Shelby
Where Light Oak clocks in
14% of workers
6% 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.
Working from home in Light Oak
of Light Oak workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23 commuters (the 0% 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.
Jobs in Light Oak: what the 46 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Light Oak, 2013 → 2023: 33 → 46. 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 Light Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Light Oak, by distance
About 21% 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.
22% of Light Oak works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Shelby. Darker towns draw more of Light Oak’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 Light Oak: questions
What is the median household income in Light Oak?
$63,333 (±$29,665) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Light Oak?
31.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Light Oak work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shelby (22%, 4 mi), Gastonia (14%, 17 mi), Charlotte (6%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Light Oak without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Light Oak, from the people who make the trip.
More of Light Oak
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.