Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0At 5.3%, unemployment in Rockwell is higher than in 65% of U.S. towns
At 26 minutes each way, commutes from Rockwell run about the North Carolina average. The two grades for Rockwell are B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 6% work in Rockwell; the top destination outside it is Salisbury (17%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Rockwell, in a few figures
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Rockwell
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockwell is better than 49% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Rockwell’s grade up (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockwell could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Goods jobs make up 51% of work in Rockwell
1,316 jobs are based in Rockwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockwell, 2013 → 2023: 1,037 → 1,316. 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 Rockwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Rockwell, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 955 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 1,256 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Rockwell on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
The places Rockwell commutes to
Where Rockwell clocks in
17% of workers
14% of workers
9% 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.
How long Rockwell spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockwell workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,144 commuters (the 13% 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.
Where in the region Rockwell works
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.
In Rockwell, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockwell is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. 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 1,316 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). 1.9% of Rockwell households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,207 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300, Rockwell comes 2,361st on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,359 | Fulton Township PA | 3,227 | $79K | 7.3% | 4.3% | 6% | B− |
| 2,360 | Sheridan IL | 2,094 | $85K | 10.9% | 7.9% | 1% | B− |
| 2,361 | Rockwell NC | 2,417 | $70K | 7.0% | 5.3% | 6% | B− |
| 2,362 | Fredericktown OH | 2,658 | $66K | 12.5% | 2.4% | 8% | B− |
| 2,363 | New Oxford PA | 1,912 | $63K | 9.2% | 3.9% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | 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 Rockwell, 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 Rockwell: questions
What is the median household income in Rockwell?
$69,632 (±$17,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockwell?
7.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockwell?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockwell work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salisbury (17%, 9 mi), Charlotte (14%, 34 mi), Concord (9%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockwell walkable?
Rockwell is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockwell without a car?
0% 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 Rockwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockwell
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.