Photo: Kharris0317 · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.0 jobs in Salisbury for every working resident, and 24,142 people commute in
The two grades for Salisbury are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Salisbury has 27,622 jobs, and 14,085 of its residents work somewhere. Measured by household income, Salisbury is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Salisbury: the gist
Salisbury is where the jobs are
Salisbury has 27,622 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Salisbury’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Salisbury is Charlotte, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (1,944) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Salisbury draws workers from far and wide
The 27,622 jobs in Salisbury are filled from a wide area. Salisbury’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 67% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Salisbury
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salisbury is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #219 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Salisbury’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salisbury could be anywhere from D to C.
A workday in Salisbury: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 10,605 residents head out to work and 3,480 work right here.
About 50,000 people are in Salisbury on a workday afternoon, 37% more than live here.
2.0 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 in the region Salisbury works
About 15% 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 towns that send workers to Salisbury
Where Salisbury clocks in
14% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Salisbury
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salisbury, 2013 → 2023: 23,562 → 27,622. 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 Salisbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Salisbury takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salisbury workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,316 commuters (the 9% 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.
Salisbury is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salisbury is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #37 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Salisbury near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,591 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). 13.4% of Salisbury households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Salisbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Salisbury sits among U.S. towns of 26,000 to 50,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Matthews NC | 32,769 | $109K | 3.7% | 2.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Morrisville NC | 32,466 | $125K | 3.1% | 3.3% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Cornelius NC | 35,094 | $114K | 5.4% | 2.4% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,058 | Moscow ID | 26,721 | $57K | 25.1% | 7.9% | 49% | C− |
| 1,059 | Holyoke MA | 38,023 | $54K | 27.0% | 7.7% | 24% | C− |
| 1,060 | Salisbury NC | 36,879 | $54K | 26.3% | 5.8% | 25% | C− |
| 1,061 | Lompoc CA | 43,315 | $72K | 17.3% | 7.0% | 22% | C− |
| 1,062 | Altoona PA | 42,347 | $51K | 16.6% | 6.8% | 30% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Salisbury, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
The towns around Salisbury
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Salisbury workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | – | C− | A− | 22 min | $53,716 |
| Spencer | under 2% | C+ | B− | 32 min | $65,465 |
| East Spencer | under 2% | C− | C | 23 min | $34,417 |
| Granite Quarry | under 2% | C+ | C− | 39 min | $57,981 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Salisbury’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 Salisbury: questions
What is the median household income in Salisbury?
$53,716 (±$4,166) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salisbury?
26.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salisbury?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salisbury work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (14%, 37 mi), Concord (4%, 21 mi), Mooresville (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salisbury walkable?
Salisbury is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salisbury without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salisbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salisbury
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.