Eagle Nest · Photo: Tradewinds · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Richlands (9.7%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Only 6% stay in Richlands for work; outside it, Jacksonville is the main destination (26%, 14 miles). Richlands grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. The trip to work takes 35 minutes on average; North Carolina averages 25, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Richlands stands out on work
Jobs in Richlands have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Richlands went from 440 in 2013 to 944 in 2023, +115%. The jobs ↓
Richlands and Jacksonville trade workers both ways
Jacksonville is the top workplace for Richlands residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Richlands come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Richlands workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical 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 737 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Richlands
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Richlands is better than 19% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Richlands’ grade up (11.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Richlands could be anywhere from D to B+.
Jobs in Richlands: what the 944 are
944 jobs are based in Richlands.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Richlands, 2013 → 2023: 440 → 944. 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 Richlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Richlands ends
Where Richlands clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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 35 minutes each way for Richlands’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Richlands workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 905 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 690 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 897 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 (1.28 per resident).
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 far it is to work from Richlands
About 32% 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.
The commute in Richlands is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Richlands is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,013 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). 2.2% of Richlands households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Richlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
Richlands places 4,187th of 5,401 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,185 | New London Township OH | 3,175 | $54K | 12.6% | 6.7% | 14% | C− |
| 4,186 | Red Bay AL | 3,196 | $37K | 20.1% | 2.8% | 38% | C− |
| 4,187 | Richlands NC | 2,485 | $65K | 11.1% | 9.7% | 6% | C− |
| 4,188 | Norwood NC | 2,568 | $52K | 8.5% | 6.6% | 9% | C− |
| 4,189 | Philadelphia NY | 1,937 | $76K | 18.9% | 2.8% | 17% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Richlands, 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 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 Richlands: questions
What is the median household income in Richlands?
$65,163 (±$18,171) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Richlands?
11.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Richlands?
35 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 Richlands work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jacksonville (26%, 14 mi), Raleigh (4%, 89 mi), Charlotte (3%, 187 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Richlands walkable?
Richlands is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Richlands without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Richlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Richlands
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.