Ranlo has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
The two grades for Ranlo are B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Ranlo has 762 jobs for 2,122 working residents. Only 2% work in Ranlo; the top destination outside it is Charlotte (33%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ranlo at work: what stands out
Inside Ranlo’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ranlo is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #81 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Ranlo’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ranlo could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Where people from Ranlo work
Where Ranlo clocks in
33% of workers
21% 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 daily commute in and out of Ranlo
On a workday 2,084 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 724 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Ranlo on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
The kinds of work in Ranlo
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ranlo, 2013 → 2023: 787 → 762. 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 Ranlo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Ranlo: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ranlo workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,819 commuters (the 11% 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 Ranlo’s workers travel
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.
For most of Ranlo, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ranlo is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #118 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Ranlo near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,051 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.5% of Ranlo households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Ranlo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranlo next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500: 1,326th of 3,753 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 290 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,324 | Russell KY | 3,628 | $76K | 4.7% | 3.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,325 | Crystal City MO | 4,694 | $73K | 11.4% | 2.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,326 | Ranlo NC | 4,848 | $78K | 5.5% | 5.7% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,327 | Shrewsbury PA | 4,014 | $102K | 4.2% | 6.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,328 | Robinson Township MI | 6,475 | $99K | 4.2% | 6.9% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ranlo, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 22% of Ranlo’s workers
The biggest share goes to Gastonia (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ranlo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranlo | – | B+ | B− | 21 min | $78,033 |
| Springdale | under 1% | C+ | D | 28 min | $55,096 |
| Lowell | 1% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $52,500 |
| Gastonia | 21% | C+ | B− | 27 min | $64,059 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ranlo’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 Ranlo: questions
What is the median household income in Ranlo?
$78,033 (±$16,265) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ranlo?
5.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ranlo?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ranlo work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (33%, 18 mi), Gastonia (21%, 4 mi), Belmont (2%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ranlo walkable?
Ranlo is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ranlo without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ranlo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ranlo
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.