Albertus Ledbetter House · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0A job hub: Old Fort has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 770 people come in to work
Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers (North Carolina 16%). 793 jobs are based in Old Fort, and 378 of its residents work somewhere. Only 6% stay in Old Fort for work; outside it, Asheville is the main destination (13%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Old Fort apart on work
Old Fort is where the jobs are
Old Fort has 793 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,200 people are in town, 52% more than the 800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Old Fort makes and builds things
70% of the jobs based in Old Fort are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Old Fort residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Old Fort than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Old Fort fell from 1,407 in 2013 to 793 in 2023, −44%. 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 ↓
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 378 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
In and out of Old Fort on a workday
On a workday 355 residents head out to work and 23 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Old Fort on a workday afternoon, 52% 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.
A place that makes things: 70% of Old Fort’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Old Fort, 2013 → 2023: 1,407 → 793. 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 Old Fort’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Old Fort live
Where Old Fort clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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 25 minutes to work from Old Fort
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Old Fort workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 282 commuters (the 6% 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.
How far Old Fort’s workers travel
About 26% 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.
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 Old Fort: questions
What is the median household income in Old Fort?
$47,500 (±$5,632) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Old Fort?
13.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Old Fort?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Old Fort work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Asheville (13%, 21 mi), Marion (11%, 10 mi), Black Mountain (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Old Fort without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Old Fort, from the people who make the trip.
More of Old Fort
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.