Northlakes has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Northlakes has 87 jobs, and 726 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Northlakes is better than 91% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D). Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Northlakes
Northlakes is a place people come home to
There are 87 jobs based in Northlakes, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Northlakes has about 1,100 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Northlakes works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Northlakes: Hickory (25%) and Granite Falls (6%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Northlakes 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; with 726 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Northlakes’ Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Northlakes’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, Northlakes could be anywhere from A− to A.
Northlakes on a workday afternoon
On a workday 724 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 85 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Northlakes on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
About 18 minutes each way for Northlakes’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northlakes workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 668 commuters (the 10% 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.
25% of working residents work in Hickory
Where Northlakes clocks in
25% 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.
Northlakes works in goods: 30% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northlakes, 2013 → 2023: 86 → 87. 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 Northlakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Northlakes
About 16% 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.
Getting around Northlakes: mostly by car
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 746 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 Northlakes households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Northlakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Northlakes places 305th of 5,760 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | Richfield Township OH | 1,581 | $101K | 1.4% | 6.4% | 4% | A |
| 304 | Brighton WI | 1,438 | $92K | 3.2% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| 305 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A |
| 306 | Lake Sherwood CA | 1,633 | $234K | 3.2% | 5.3% | 2% | A |
| 307 | Rye Township PA | 2,284 | $102K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 458 | Advance NC | 1,408 | $115K | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Northlakes, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
31% of Northlakes works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Hickory (25%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northlakes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northlakes | – | A | D | 18 min | $101,250 |
| Hickory | 25% | C+ | B | 21 min | $64,576 |
| Granite Falls | 6% | C− | C+ | 24 min | $56,917 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Northlakes’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 Northlakes: questions
What is the median household income in Northlakes?
$101,250 (±$14,498) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northlakes?
2.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northlakes?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northlakes work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hickory (25%, 4 mi), Lenoir (7%, 12 mi), Granite Falls (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Northlakes walkable?
Northlakes is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northlakes 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 Northlakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northlakes
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.