Photo: Kubigula · Public domainHouseholds in Spruce Pine have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
4% of workers work from home, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole. Poverty touches 22.5% of residents, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. The two grades for Spruce Pine are C− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Spruce Pine, in a few figures
Spruce Pine is where the jobs are
Spruce Pine has 1,918 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,200 people are in town, 46% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Spruce Pine workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 898 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Spruce Pine
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spruce Pine is better than 19% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Spruce Pine’s grade up (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($42,098, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spruce Pine could be anywhere from D to C.
Who commutes out of Spruce Pine, and who commutes in
On a workday 752 residents head out to work, 146 work right here, and 1,772 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Spruce Pine on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
2.1 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.
How long Spruce Pine spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spruce Pine workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,006 commuters (the 4% 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 Spruce Pine’s workforce comes from
Where Spruce Pine clocks in
4% 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.
What the 1,918 jobs in Spruce Pine are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spruce Pine, 2013 → 2023: 2,199 → 1,918. 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 Spruce Pine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Spruce Pine goes to work
About 21% 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 Spruce Pine walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spruce Pine is more walkable than 24% 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 1,047 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). 9.5% of Spruce Pine households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spruce Pine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000, Spruce Pine comes 4,274th 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,272 | Quincy MI | 1,564 | $60K | 16.7% | 2.7% | 5% | C− |
| 4,273 | Holden MO | 2,347 | $63K | 19.2% | 2.8% | 8% | C− |
| 4,274 | Spruce Pine NC | 2,211 | $42K | 22.5% | 1.8% | 16% | C− |
| 4,275 | Coal Grove OH | 1,808 | $61K | 15.1% | 6.7% | 6% | C− |
| 4,276 | Westhaven-Moonstone CA | 1,537 | $67K | 15.7% | 16.5% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Spruce Pine, 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 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 Spruce Pine: questions
What is the median household income in Spruce Pine?
$42,098 (±$9,436) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spruce Pine?
22.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spruce Pine?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spruce Pine work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersville (4%, 9 mi), Charlotte (4%, 85 mi), Marion (3%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spruce Pine walkable?
Spruce Pine is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spruce Pine without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spruce Pine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spruce Pine
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.