Waxhaw Historic District · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Waxhaw’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
28% of workers work from home, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole. The poverty rate is 4.5%; North Carolina has 13.0%. Jobs and income earn Waxhaw A−; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Waxhaw apart
Jobs in Waxhaw have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Waxhaw went from 1,690 in 2013 to 4,136 in 2023, +145%. The jobs ↓
Nearly half of Waxhaw works in Charlotte
4,579 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Charlotte, 20 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Waxhaw itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Waxhaw works from home
28% of Waxhaw workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Waxhaw
67% of Waxhaw residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Waxhaw pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Waxhaw workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Waxhaw: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waxhaw is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #34 of 290 in North Carolina. Household income holds Waxhaw’s grade up ($131,894, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waxhaw could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The 4,136 jobs based in Waxhaw
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waxhaw, 2013 → 2023: 1,690 → 4,136. 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 Waxhaw’s own residents hold wherever they work.
48% of working residents work in Charlotte
Where Waxhaw clocks in
48% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Commuting from Waxhaw: about 32 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waxhaw workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,659 commuters (the 28% 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.
Who works in Waxhaw, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 9,005 residents head out to work, 621 work right here, and 3,515 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Waxhaw on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.43 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.
Waxhaw’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% 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.
In Waxhaw, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waxhaw is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #145 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 10,596 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.8% of Waxhaw households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Waxhaw’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Waxhaw is 476th of 1,712 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Knightdale NC | 23,144 | $103K | 5.3% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 474 | Chili NY | 28,897 | $90K | 7.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A− |
| 475 | Halfmoon NY | 26,658 | $101K | 4.3% | 3.8% | 7% | A− |
| 476 | Waxhaw NC | 23,140 | $132K | 4.5% | 4.9% | 6% | A− |
| 477 | Camp Springs MD | 22,544 | $120K | 7.2% | 4.7% | 1% | A− |
| 478 | Millbrae CA | 22,869 | $163K | 6.0% | 5.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Waxhaw, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door to Waxhaw
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waxhaw workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waxhaw | – | A− | C+ | 32 min | $131,894 |
| Mineral Springs | under 2% | A | D− | 34 min | $91,500 |
| Wesley Chapel | under 2% | A | C− | 32 min | $132,188 |
| Marvin | under 2% | A | B− | 29 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waxhaw’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 Waxhaw: questions
What is the median household income in Waxhaw?
$131,894 (±$11,510) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waxhaw?
4.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waxhaw?
32 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waxhaw work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (48%, 20 mi), Monroe (4%, 11 mi), Raleigh (2%, 133 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waxhaw walkable?
Waxhaw is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waxhaw without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waxhaw, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waxhaw
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.