Photo: Brian Stansberry (photographer) · CC BY 4.0Rutherford College’s household incomes are lower than in 62% of U.S. towns
7.7% of residents live below the poverty line (North Carolina 13.0%). Rutherford College grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rutherford College and work: the main findings
Rutherford College makes and builds things
50% of the jobs based in Rutherford College are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Rutherford College residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Few Rutherford College workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Rutherford College than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Rutherford College fell from 725 in 2013 to 540 in 2023, −26%. 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 542 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Rutherford College
On income, poverty and job access, Rutherford College is better than 52% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Rutherford College’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($67,500, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Rutherford College’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Rutherford College could be anywhere from C to A−.
A place that makes things: 50% of Rutherford College’s jobs are in goods
540 jobs are based in Rutherford College.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rutherford College, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 540. 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 Rutherford College’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Rutherford College’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rutherford College workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 709 commuters (the 2% 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.
A workday in Rutherford College: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 537 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 535 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 (1.00 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.
16% of working residents work in Morganton
Where Rutherford College clocks in
16% 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.
Where in the region Rutherford College works
About 19% 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.
Few in Rutherford College walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rutherford College is more walkable than 22% 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 724 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). 5.5% of Rutherford College households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rutherford College’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rutherford College is 1,380th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 248 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Advance NC | 1,408 | $115K | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,378 | Worth Township PA | 1,357 | $69K | 7.1% | 10.2% | 2% | B− |
| 1,379 | St. Ansgar IA | 1,168 | $76K | 5.4% | 2.8% | 20% | B− |
| 1,380 | Rutherford College NC | 1,220 | $68K | 7.7% | 2.2% | 1% | B− |
| 1,381 | Pleasant Grove Township IL | 1,187 | $77K | 7.2% | 5.7% | <1% | B− |
| 1,382 | Clinton Township PA | 1,302 | $86K | 9.0% | 4.0% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Rutherford College, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns around Rutherford College
The biggest share goes to Valdese (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rutherford College workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherford College | – | B− | C− | 25 min | $67,500 |
| Valdese | 9% | C− | C− | 27 min | $50,740 |
| Connelly Springs | under 2% | C+ | D | 24 min | $54,620 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rutherford College’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 Rutherford College: questions
What is the median household income in Rutherford College?
$67,500 (±$12,043) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rutherford College?
7.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rutherford College?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rutherford College work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morganton (16%, 10 mi), Hickory (14%, 12 mi), Valdese (9%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rutherford College walkable?
Rutherford College is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rutherford College without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rutherford College, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rutherford College
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.