Southmont has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
63 jobs are based in Southmont, and 669 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Southmont are C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Hardly any stay in Southmont for work; outside it, Lexington is the main destination (13%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Southmont stands out on work
Southmont is a place people come home to
There are 63 jobs based in Southmont, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Southmont has about 920 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Southmont workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 669 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Southmont gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Southmont is better than 44% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Southmont’s grade up ($91,307, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Southmont’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, Southmont could be anywhere from D to A−.
A workday in Southmont: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 667 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 61 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in Southmont on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southmont workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 555 commuters (the 16% 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 people from Southmont work
Where Southmont clocks in
13% 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.
Jobs in Southmont: what the 63 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southmont, 2014 → 2024: 56 → 63. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Southmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Southmont’s commute, mile by mile
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Southmont is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southmont is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Southmont 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 659 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). 6.8% of Southmont households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Southmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
Southmont places 2,454th of 5,794 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,452 | Burlington Township MI | 1,984 | $74K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,453 | Upper Tyrone Township PA | 1,694 | $68K | 11.6% | 6.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,454 | Southmont NC | 1,525 | $91K | 15.4% | 0.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,455 | Crainville IL | 1,507 | $65K | 10.2% | 2.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,456 | Clarendon Township MI | 1,182 | $77K | 8.1% | 2.0% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Southmont, 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 2024, 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 Southmont: questions
What is the median household income in Southmont?
$91,307 (±$40,050) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southmont?
15.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southmont?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southmont work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (13%, 10 mi), Winston-Salem (10%, 31 mi), High Point (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Southmont walkable?
Southmont is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southmont without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southmont
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.