Photo: Pubdog · Public domainHousehold incomes in Tabor City are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 32.9% of residents, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. Jobs and income earn Tabor City D−; getting around on foot earns it B−. 6% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Tabor City in brief
Tabor City workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Tabor City is where the jobs are
Tabor City has 1,749 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
43% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Tabor City has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Tabor City went from 1,125 in 2013 to 1,749 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Tabor City gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Tabor City is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #289 of 290 in North Carolina. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Tabor City’s grade.
Unemployment (10.2%) is left out: Tabor City’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Tabor City stays D−.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tabor City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 708 commuters (the 6% 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.
In and out of Tabor City on a workday
On a workday 965 residents head out to work, 163 work right here, and 1,586 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Tabor City on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
1.6 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 Tabor City works
About 43% 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.
What Tabor City’s employers do
1,749 jobs are based in Tabor City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tabor City, 2013 → 2023: 1,125 → 1,749. 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 Tabor City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Tabor City
Where Tabor City clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
In Tabor City, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tabor City is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #104 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 755 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). 3.8% of Tabor City households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tabor City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Tabor City sits among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,239 | Cochran GA | 4,986 | $33K | 32.1% | 12.2% | 16% | D− |
| 4,240 | Licking MO | 2,958 | $36K | 37.5% | 20.4% | 16% | D− |
| 4,241 | Tabor City NC | 3,886 | $39K | 32.9% | 10.2% | 14% | D− |
| 4,242 | Livingston AL | 3,242 | $24K | 27.8% | 20.6% | 33% | D− |
| 4,243 | Rocky Ford CO | 3,752 | $41K | 31.7% | 11.5% | 17% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Tabor City, 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 Tabor City: questions
What is the median household income in Tabor City?
$38,714 (±$7,044) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tabor City?
32.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tabor City?
34 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tabor City work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Whiteville (8%, 16 mi), Raleigh (5%, 117 mi), Charlotte (4%, 133 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tabor City walkable?
Tabor City is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tabor City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tabor City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tabor City
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.