New Hope has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for New Hope are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. Employers in New Hope report 161 jobs, and 551 of its residents work somewhere. 4% of workers work from home (North Carolina 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Hope, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in New Hope than ten years ago
Jobs counted in New Hope fell from 398 in 2013 to 161 in 2023, −60%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
30% of New Hope works in Goldsboro
166 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Goldsboro, 4.5 miles away across the town line. That’s 30 times as many as work in New Hope itself. The commute map ↓
New Hope is a place people come home to
There are 161 jobs based in New Hope, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday New Hope has about 1,100 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 551 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind New Hope’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, New Hope is better than 42% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds New Hope’s grade up (8.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($58,667, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (12.7%) is left out: New Hope’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, New Hope could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Factories, building and farms: 29% of the jobs in New Hope
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Hope, 2013 → 2023: 398 → 161. 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 New Hope’s own residents hold wherever they work.
30% of working residents work in Goldsboro
Where New Hope clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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 daily flow of workers through New Hope
On a workday 548 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 158 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in New Hope on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
How long New Hope spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Hope workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 628 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.
Half of New Hope commutes less than 15 miles
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.
Driving is how New Hope gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Hope is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. 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 653 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). 0.0% of New Hope households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Hope’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, New Hope ranks 2,764th of 6,308 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 293 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,762 | Salt Creek Township OH | 1,095 | $74K | 8.6% | 5.3% | 0% | C+ |
| 2,763 | Washington WI | 1,990 | $62K | 5.6% | 3.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,764 | New Hope NC | 1,487 | $59K | 8.6% | 12.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,765 | Preston TX | 1,747 | $65K | 6.7% | 11.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,766 | Fountain Green UT | 1,333 | $73K | 5.3% | 4.2% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 New Hope, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door is work for 30% of New Hope
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Goldsboro. Darker towns draw more of New Hope’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 New Hope: questions
What is the median household income in New Hope?
$58,667 (±$11,714) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Hope?
8.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Hope?
16 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 New Hope work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Goldsboro (30%, 4 mi), Raleigh (6%, 52 mi), Wilson (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Hope walkable?
New Hope is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Hope without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Hope, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Hope
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.