Philadelphus Presbyterian Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Red Springs earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
Poverty touches 40.0% of residents, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. For jobs and income Red Springs is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Red Springs: the figures worth knowing
Red Springs trades workers with the towns around it
Red Springs has about as many jobs (1,300) as working residents (1,121), but they are mostly different people: 1,039 residents leave for work each day while 1,218 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Red Springs are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Red Springs workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Red Springs’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Red Springs’ grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($20,833, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Red Springs could be anywhere from D− to C.
The daily commute in and out of Red Springs
On a workday 1,039 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 1,218 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Red Springs: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Red Springs workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 949 commuters (the <1% 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.
The commute from Red Springs, by distance
About 30% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
13% of working residents work in Lumberton
Where Red Springs clocks in
9% 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.
What the 1,300 jobs in Red Springs are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Red Springs, 2014 → 2024: 1,275 → 1,300. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Red Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Red Springs: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 953 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). 17.3% of Red Springs households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Red Springs’ commuters take a bus or train.
Red Springs next to U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,083 | Philippi WV | 2,846 | $46K | 29.5% | 8.1% | 20% | D |
| 4,084 | La Grange NC | 2,947 | $48K | 32.0% | 14.7% | 2% | D |
| 4,085 | Red Springs NC | 3,216 | $21K | 40.0% | 8.6% | 7% | D |
| 4,086 | Bethel OH | 2,708 | $44K | 27.5% | 9.0% | 7% | D |
| 4,087 | Masontown PA | 3,100 | $54K | 31.7% | 12.6% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,316 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Red Springs, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Red Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Red Springs?
$20,833 (±$6,941) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Red Springs?
40.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Red Springs?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Red Springs work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lumberton (13%, 15 mi), Fayetteville (9%, 22 mi), Raleigh (4%, 77 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Red Springs walkable?
Red Springs is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Red Springs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Red Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Red Springs
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.