Reed Gold Mine · Photo: Bang-Ning Hsu from Durham (NC, USA), Taiwan · CC BY-SA 2.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Locust
Only 4% work in Locust; the top destination outside it is Charlotte (31%, 23 miles). Jobs and income earn Locust B; getting around on foot earns it C−. A typical one-way commute lasts 33 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Locust: the figures worth knowing
Locust has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Locust went from 1,085 in 2013 to 1,839 in 2023, +69%. The jobs ↓
Locust workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Locust
60% of Locust residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Locust pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Locust and Charlotte trade workers both ways
Charlotte is the top workplace for Locust residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Locust come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Locust are held by workers 29 or younger, against 24% of Locust’s own working residents. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Locust’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Locust is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #95 of 290 in North Carolina. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Locust’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Locust could be anywhere from C to A.
What Locust’s employers do
1,839 jobs are based in Locust.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Locust, 2013 → 2023: 1,085 → 1,839. 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 Locust’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Locust, about 33 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Locust workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,992 commuters (the 14% 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.
Where Locust goes to work
Where Locust clocks in
31% of workers
10% 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 workday in Locust: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,119 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 1,748 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 (0.83 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.
Locust’s commute, mile by mile
About 17% 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.
Driving is how Locust gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Locust is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #215 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 2,303 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). 6.7% of Locust households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Locust’s commuters take a bus or train.
Locust is 1,446th of 3,370 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,444 | Wakefield NH | 5,558 | $101K | 7.2% | 2.3% | 13% | B |
| 1,445 | Maeser UT | 4,435 | $84K | 7.7% | 0.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,446 | Locust NC | 6,120 | $77K | 8.7% | 3.6% | 4% | B |
| 1,447 | Carnegie PA | 7,777 | $68K | 11.7% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,448 | Westmont PA | 4,747 | $109K | 7.8% | 5.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | 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 Locust, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Locust: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Stanfield (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Locust workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locust | – | B | C− | 33 min | $76,504 |
| Stanfield | 2% | B | D | 34 min | $79,250 |
| Midland | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $101,477 |
| Red Cross | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Red Cross: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Locust’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 Locust: questions
What is the median household income in Locust?
$76,504 (±$18,990) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Locust?
8.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Locust?
33 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Locust work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (31%, 23 mi), Concord (10%, 14 mi), Albemarle (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Locust walkable?
Locust is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Locust without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Locust, from the people who make the trip.
More of Locust
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.