Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Waco has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For 30% of workers, the job is at home, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. Employers in Waco report 19 jobs for 107 working residents. Hardly any stay in Waco for work; outside it, Shelby is the main destination (14%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Waco
On a workday 106 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 18 people come in from elsewhere.
About 230 people are in Waco on a workday afternoon, 28% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Waco ends
Where Waco clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Waco
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waco, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 19. 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 Waco’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 44 minutes from Waco
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waco workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32 commuters (the 30% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Waco
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 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 Waco: questions
What is the poverty rate in Waco?
2.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waco?
44 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waco work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shelby (14%, 8 mi), Charlotte (7%, 35 mi), Gastonia (7%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Waco 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 Waco, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waco
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.