Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Waynesville (1.9%) than in 86% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Waynesville; the top destination outside it is Asheville (12%, 26 miles). Waynesville grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Waynesville stands out on work
Waynesville draws workers from far and wide
The 6,586 jobs in Waynesville are filled from a wide area. Waynesville’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Waynesville is where the jobs are
Waynesville has 6,586 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Waynesville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Waynesville is Asheville, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (515) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Waynesville are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Waynesville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waynesville is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #155 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Waynesville’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($54,923, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waynesville could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where the people who work in Waynesville live
Where Waynesville clocks in
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.
How many people are in Waynesville by day
On a workday 3,310 residents head out to work, 981 work right here, and 5,605 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Waynesville on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Waynesville
About 20% 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.
How long Waynesville spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waynesville workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,185 commuters (the 12% 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.
What work there is in Waynesville: 6,586 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waynesville, 2013 → 2023: 5,746 → 6,586. 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 Waynesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Waynesville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waynesville is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #38 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Waynesville near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,779 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). 7.8% of Waynesville households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waynesville’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,724th of 2,507: where Waynesville ranks among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 270 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,722 | Keyser Township IN | 8,040 | $62K | 13.4% | 4.4% | 20% | C+ |
| 1,723 | Hutchinson MN | 14,655 | $73K | 12.4% | 4.0% | 45% | C+ |
| 1,724 | Waynesville NC | 11,006 | $55K | 15.9% | 1.9% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,725 | Skiatook OK | 8,960 | $57K | 13.4% | 3.9% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,726 | Dover NY | 8,419 | $92K | 11.4% | 5.9% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Waynesville, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Waynesville and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lake Junaluska (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waynesville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waynesville | – | C+ | A− | 20 min | $54,923 |
| Lake Junaluska | 2% | C | A | 14 min | $66,165 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waynesville’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 Waynesville: questions
What is the median household income in Waynesville?
$54,923 (±$7,816) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waynesville?
15.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waynesville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waynesville work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Asheville (12%, 26 mi), Sylva (4%, 14 mi), Canton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waynesville walkable?
Waynesville is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waynesville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waynesville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waynesville
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.