Alfred Rowland House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Lumberton’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, against 16% across North Carolina. Below the poverty line: 30.8% of residents; North Carolina has 13.0%. Lumberton grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lumberton: the gist
Lumberton draws workers from far and wide
The 17,902 jobs in Lumberton are filled from a wide area. Lumberton’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 9%; the other 77% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Lumberton is where the jobs are
Lumberton has 17,902 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 30,000 people are in town, 56% more than the 19,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Lumberton workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Lumberton are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Lumberton workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Lumberton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
What’s behind Lumberton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lumberton is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #254 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Lumberton’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lumberton could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where Lumberton’s workers come from
Where Lumberton clocks in
6% of workers
3% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Lumberton
On a workday 4,780 residents head out to work, 2,426 work right here, and 15,476 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30,000 people are in Lumberton on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.
2.5 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.
Time on the road from Lumberton: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lumberton workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,247 commuters (the 4% 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 Lumberton’s employers do
17,902 jobs are based in Lumberton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lumberton, 2013 → 2023: 19,908 → 17,902. 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 Lumberton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Lumberton works
About 27% 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.
Most of Lumberton commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lumberton is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #106 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 6,512 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). 12.9% of Lumberton households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lumberton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lumberton and other U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Altamont OR | 19,927 | $59K | 16.9% | 7.4% | 17% | D |
| 1,916 | Gallup NM | 19,969 | $58K | 26.8% | 5.7% | 63% | D |
| 1,917 | Lumberton NC | 18,955 | $43K | 30.8% | 5.6% | 34% | D |
| 1,918 | Duncan OK | 23,238 | $58K | 20.5% | 6.8% | 46% | D |
| 1,919 | Rolla MO | 20,588 | $46K | 23.6% | 4.6% | 39% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | 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 Lumberton, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Lumberton and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lumberton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumberton | – | D | B− | 20 min | $42,877 |
| Barker Ten Mile | under 2% | B | C | 21 min | $66,667 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lumberton’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 Lumberton: questions
What is the median household income in Lumberton?
$42,877 (±$5,546) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lumberton?
30.8%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lumberton?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lumberton work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (6%, 31 mi), Raleigh (3%, 86 mi), Lumber Bridge (2%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lumberton walkable?
Lumberton is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lumberton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lumberton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lumberton
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.