Harnett County Training School · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Walnut Creek top those of 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Walnut Creek A−; getting around on foot earns it C−. 6.6% of residents live below the poverty line; North Carolina has 13.0%. Hardly any work in Walnut Creek itself; outside it, Goldsboro draws the most (33%, 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 Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek is a place people come home to
There are 106 jobs based in Walnut Creek, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Walnut Creek has about 740 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Walnut Creek and Goldsboro trade workers both ways
Goldsboro is the top workplace for Walnut Creek residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Walnut Creek come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 485 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Walnut Creek’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Walnut Creek is better than 76% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Walnut Creek’s grade up ($166,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Walnut Creek’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Walnut Creek could be anywhere from B to A.
A workday in Walnut Creek: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 482 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 103 people come in from elsewhere.
About 740 people are in Walnut Creek on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.22 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 people from Walnut Creek work
Where Walnut Creek clocks in
6% 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.
Walnut Creek is a services town
106 jobs are based in Walnut Creek.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walnut Creek, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 106. 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 Walnut Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Walnut Creek
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walnut Creek workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 502 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.
How far Walnut Creek’s workers travel
About 26% 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 Walnut Creek: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Walnut Creek is more walkable than 16% 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 622 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). 0.6% of Walnut Creek households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Walnut Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Walnut Creek is 457th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Advance NC | 1,408 | $115K | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 455 | Sebewa Township MI | 1,147 | $96K | 4.8% | 4.7% | <1% | A− |
| 456 | Belmont Estates VA | 1,162 | $87K | 6.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A− |
| 457 | Walnut Creek NC | 1,119 | $166K | 6.6% | 1.7% | 1% | A− |
| 458 | Blandford MA | 1,212 | $92K | 5.5% | 0.3% | 2% | A− |
| 459 | Lone Tree IA | 1,332 | $91K | 4.8% | 2.7% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Walnut Creek, 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 Walnut Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Walnut Creek?
$166,250 (±$52,054) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walnut Creek?
6.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walnut Creek?
27 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 Walnut Creek work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Goldsboro (33%, 7 mi), Kinston (7%, 16 mi), Raleigh (6%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Walnut Creek walkable?
Walnut Creek is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Walnut Creek without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walnut Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walnut Creek
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.