With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Lucama works elsewhere
Lucama has 209 jobs, against 407 working residents. Jobs and income earn Lucama C−; getting around on foot earns it D−. Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lucama and work: the main findings
One in three of Lucama works in Wilson
144 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Wilson, 7.4 miles away. That’s 35 times as many as work in Lucama itself. The commute map ↓
Few Lucama workers work from home
Only 1% 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 407 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Lucama
On income, poverty and job access, Lucama is better than 18% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Lucama’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (12.4%) is left out: Lucama’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lucama could be anywhere from D to B.
35% of working residents work in Wilson
Where Lucama clocks in
35% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from Lucama
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lucama workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 418 commuters (the 1% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Lucama
On a workday 404 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 206 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Lucama on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lucama, 2013 → 2023: 101 → 209. 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 Lucama’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Lucama
About 20% 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 Lucama, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lucama is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lucama near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 421 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). 2.8% of Lucama households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lucama’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lucama places 2,202nd of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Brandywine Bay NC | 1,313 | $105K | 1.2% | 12.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,200 | Parker City IN | 1,279 | $59K | 18.8% | 6.0% | 3% | C− |
| 2,201 | Wilson NY | 1,210 | $61K | 23.2% | 7.4% | 12% | C− |
| 2,202 | Lucama NC | 1,052 | $55K | 20.1% | 12.4% | 1% | C− |
| 2,203 | Florence Township MI | 1,142 | $63K | 23.9% | 3.3% | 1% | C− |
| 2,204 | New Pekin IN | 1,378 | $51K | 19.5% | 1.7% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Lucama, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
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 Lucama: questions
What is the median household income in Lucama?
$54,583 (±$21,991) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lucama?
20.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lucama?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lucama work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilson (35%, 7 mi), Raleigh (7%, 38 mi), Rocky Mount (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lucama walkable?
Lucama is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lucama without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lucama, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lucama
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.