Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Households in Valdese earn less than those in 87% of U.S. towns
12.8% of residents are in poverty, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. Valdese grades C− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. About one in ten work in Valdese itself; outside it, Morganton draws the most (18%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Valdese
The four measures behind Valdese’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Valdese is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #209 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Valdese’s grade up (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($50,740, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Valdese could be anywhere from D to B.
Goods, not services: 52% of the jobs in Valdese
2,364 jobs are based in Valdese.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valdese, 2013 → 2023: 3,116 → 2,364. 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 Valdese’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Valdese on a workday
On a workday 1,732 residents head out to work, 180 work right here, and 2,184 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Valdese on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
Commuting out of Valdese: the destinations
Where Valdese clocks in
18% of workers
13% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Valdese takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valdese workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,877 commuters (the 11% 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.
Valdese’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Getting around Valdese: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Valdese is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #241 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 2,106 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). 5.4% of Valdese households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Valdese’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,867 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400, Valdese comes 3,002nd on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,000 | Chisholm MN | 4,625 | $51K | 14.0% | 3.9% | 20% | C− |
| 3,001 | Waverly NY | 4,191 | $54K | 7.3% | 7.7% | 17% | C− |
| 3,002 | Valdese NC | 4,712 | $51K | 12.8% | 5.8% | 9% | C− |
| 3,003 | Minersville PA | 4,423 | $53K | 27.0% | 3.9% | 6% | C− |
| 3,004 | Pittsfield ME | 3,935 | $57K | 15.5% | 4.0% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | 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 Valdese, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Valdese and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Valdese workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdese | – | C− | C− | 27 min | $50,740 |
| Rutherford College | under 2% | B− | C− | 25 min | $67,500 |
| Drexel | under 2% | C | D | 20 min | $61,992 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Valdese’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 Valdese: questions
What is the median household income in Valdese?
$50,740 (±$6,175) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valdese?
12.8%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valdese?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valdese work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morganton (18%, 7 mi), Hickory (13%, 14 mi), Charlotte (5%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Valdese walkable?
Valdese is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valdese without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valdese, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valdese
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.