Photo: Brian Stansberry (photographer) · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Rutherfordton (7.3%) than in 84% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns. Rutherfordton grades C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in ten stay in Rutherfordton for work; outside it, Forest City is the main destination (9%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Rutherfordton apart on work
What’s behind Rutherfordton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rutherfordton is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #237 of 290 in North Carolina. The poverty rate holds Rutherfordton’s grade up (12.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rutherfordton could be anywhere from D to B.
Rutherfordton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,483 residents head out to work, 171 work right here, and 2,629 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,900 people are in Rutherfordton on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Rutherfordton’s workforce comes from
Where Rutherfordton clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Rutherfordton is a services town
2,800 jobs are based in Rutherfordton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rutherfordton, 2013 → 2023: 3,508 → 2,800. 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 Rutherfordton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Rutherfordton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rutherfordton workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,318 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.
Where in the region Rutherfordton works
About 24% 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.
For most of Rutherfordton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rutherfordton is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns, #207 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 1,473 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). 8.6% of Rutherfordton households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rutherfordton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rutherfordton places 3,599th of 4,318 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,597 | Rexland Acres CA | 2,760 | $56K | 25.4% | 10.1% | 1% | C− |
| 3,598 | Agua Fria NM | 2,898 | $65K | 25.3% | 7.9% | 2% | C− |
| 3,599 | Rutherfordton NC | 3,723 | $59K | 12.7% | 7.3% | 10% | C− |
| 3,600 | Mount Morris NY | 4,419 | $57K | 13.4% | 6.2% | 11% | C− |
| 3,601 | Lake Township PA | 4,910 | $60K | 12.3% | 8.8% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Rutherfordton, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Rutherfordton: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Spindale (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rutherfordton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherfordton | – | C− | C | 22 min | $59,375 |
| Spindale | 4% | D− | C+ | 25 min | $41,262 |
| Ruth | 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ruth: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rutherfordton’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 Rutherfordton: questions
What is the median household income in Rutherfordton?
$59,375 (±$13,689) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rutherfordton?
12.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rutherfordton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rutherfordton work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest City (9%, 6 mi), Charlotte (7%, 65 mi), Spindale (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rutherfordton walkable?
Rutherfordton is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rutherfordton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rutherfordton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rutherfordton
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.