Lowell has lower household incomes than 85% of U.S. towns
For 24% of workers, the job is at home, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. Poverty touches 17.4% of residents, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. The two grades for Lowell are C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lowell and work: the main findings
Lowell trades workers with the towns around it
Lowell has about as many jobs (1,789) as working residents (1,847), but they are mostly different people: 1,787 residents leave for work each day while 1,729 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Lowell are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Lowell works in Charlotte
606 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Charlotte, 16 miles away. That’s 11 times as many as work in Lowell itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Lowell works from home
24% of Lowell workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Lowell are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lowell
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lowell is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #150 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Lowell’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,500, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lowell could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Who leaves Lowell for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,787 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 1,729 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 (0.97 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.
33% of working residents work in Charlotte
Where Lowell clocks in
33% of workers
18% of workers
2% 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 trip to work from Lowell: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lowell workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,335 commuters (the 24% 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.
What the 1,789 jobs in Lowell are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lowell, 2013 → 2023: 1,430 → 1,789. 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 Lowell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Lowell’s workers travel
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 Lowell, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lowell is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #167 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 1,765 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.8% of Lowell households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lowell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,084 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,300, Lowell comes 2,392nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,390 | Vienna NY | 5,130 | $83K | 10.8% | 4.2% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,391 | Grantville GA | 3,284 | $69K | 8.2% | 5.6% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,392 | Lowell NC | 3,939 | $53K | 17.4% | 3.7% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,393 | Tamworth NH | 2,895 | $68K | 9.2% | 2.2% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,394 | Kelly Township PA | 3,667 | $55K | 7.5% | 1.5% | 10% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,084 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Lowell, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns next door employ 18% of Lowell
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Gastonia. Darker towns draw more of Lowell’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 Lowell: questions
What is the median household income in Lowell?
$52,500 (±$14,253) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lowell?
17.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lowell?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lowell work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (33%, 16 mi), Gastonia (18%, 5 mi), Mount Holly (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lowell walkable?
Lowell is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lowell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lowell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lowell
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.