Southern Railway Spencer Shops · Photo: Ted Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0More people are out of work in Spencer (7.1%) than in 83% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 32 minutes (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). Spencer grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 65% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Spencer, in brief
Spencer and Salisbury trade workers both ways
Salisbury is the top workplace for Spencer residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Spencer come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Spencer workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 54 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Spencer’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spencer is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #170 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Spencer’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spencer could be anywhere from D to A.
24% of working residents work in Salisbury
Where Spencer clocks in
24% of workers
13% 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.
About 32 minutes each way for Spencer’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,127 commuters (the 19% 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.
Spencer quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,504 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 1,157 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Spencer on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
34% of the jobs in Spencer make or build things
1,204 jobs are based in Spencer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 1,018 → 1,204. 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 Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Spencer commutes less than 22 miles
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.
Spencer is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spencer is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #136 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of 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 1,387 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). 1.0% of Spencer households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spencer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Spencer is 2,939th of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,937 | Jamestown CA | 3,265 | $57K | 6.1% | 4.3% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,938 | Pipestone MN | 4,100 | $68K | 13.1% | 3.0% | 46% | C+ |
| 2,939 | Spencer NC | 3,450 | $65K | 11.2% | 7.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,940 | Broadway VA | 4,463 | $65K | 13.3% | 4.1% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,941 | Olive NY | 4,263 | $114K | 8.0% | 17.1% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Spencer, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door is work for 24% of Spencer
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spencer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer | – | C+ | B− | 32 min | $65,465 |
| Salisbury | 24% | C− | A− | 22 min | $53,716 |
| East Spencer | under 2% | C− | C | 23 min | $34,417 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Salisbury. Darker towns draw more of Spencer’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 Spencer: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer?
$65,465 (±$16,860) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer?
11.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer?
32 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salisbury (24%, 4 mi), Charlotte (13%, 41 mi), Concord (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spencer walkable?
Spencer is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spencer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer
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.