Photo: Ron Reiring · CC BY 2.0Morganton draws 15,190 commuters a day, with 2.8 jobs for every working resident
17,388 jobs are based in Morganton; 6,143 of its residents have a job. Morganton grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Morganton
Morganton is where the jobs are
Morganton has 17,388 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 29,000 people are in town, 63% more than the 18,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Morganton draws workers from far and wide
The 17,388 jobs in Morganton are filled from a wide area. Morganton’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 74% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Morganton are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Morganton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Morganton is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #214 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Morganton’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (25.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morganton could be anywhere from D to C+.
Who works in Morganton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,945 residents head out to work and 2,198 work right here.
About 29,000 people are in Morganton on a workday afternoon, 63% more 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.
Commuting in to Morganton: where workers come from
Where Morganton clocks in
7% 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.
Getting to work from Morganton takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morganton workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,846 commuters (the 8% 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 Morganton’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morganton, 2013 → 2023: 14,338 → 17,388. 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 Morganton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Morganton goes to work
About 23% 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 Morganton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morganton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #146 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 7,451 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). 10.7% of Morganton households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morganton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,103 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000, Morganton comes 1,809th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 193 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,807 | Tifton GA | 17,595 | $45K | 23.5% | 3.4% | 33% | C− |
| 1,808 | New Castle IN | 17,390 | $52K | 20.1% | 4.9% | 23% | C− |
| 1,809 | Morganton NC | 17,849 | $51K | 25.7% | 3.8% | 36% | C− |
| 1,810 | Linda CA | 23,871 | $73K | 17.2% | 7.0% | 5% | C− |
| 1,811 | Show Low AZ | 12,471 | $60K | 12.2% | 4.7% | 39% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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 Morganton, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
How Morganton compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morganton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morganton | – | C− | C+ | 18 min | $51,355 |
| Salem | under 2% | C− | C− | 21 min | $68,988 |
| Glen Alpine | under 2% | C | D | 26 min | $69,697 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morganton’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 Morganton: questions
What is the median household income in Morganton?
$51,355 (±$2,582) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morganton?
25.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morganton?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morganton work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (7%, 21 mi), Charlotte (5%, 61 mi), Lenoir (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morganton walkable?
Morganton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morganton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morganton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morganton
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.