Charlotte has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Home is the office for 2% of workers, against 15% across New York. There are 70 jobs in Charlotte for 659 working residents. For jobs and income Charlotte is better than 21% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Charlotte stands out on work
Charlotte is a place people come home to
There are 70 jobs based in Charlotte, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Charlotte has about 950 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Charlotte than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Charlotte fell from 300 in 2014 to 70 in 2024, −77%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Charlotte averages 30 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (23 to 27 minutes). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 659 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Charlotte
The poverty rate holds Charlotte’s grade up (11.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Charlotte’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, Charlotte could be anywhere from D to C+.
A workday in Charlotte: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 652 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 63 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Charlotte on a workday afternoon, 38% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 34% of work in Charlotte
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charlotte, 2014 → 2024: 300 → 70. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charlotte’s own residents hold wherever they work.
9% of working residents work in Dunkirk
Where Charlotte clocks in
9% of workers
9% 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.
Commuting from Charlotte: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charlotte workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 618 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% 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 Charlotte’s workers travel
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Charlotte is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 630 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). 5.8% of Charlotte households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Charlotte’s commuters take a bus or train.
Charlotte places 4,007th of 5,794 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 5 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,005 | Blossom TX | 1,493 | $55K | 9.4% | 1.2% | 2% | C− |
| 4,006 | Waverly VA | 1,936 | $50K | 7.8% | 10.8% | 5% | C− |
| 4,007 | Charlotte NY | 1,543 | $61K | 11.7% | 5.4% | 1% | C− |
| 4,008 | Lehigh Township PA | 1,885 | $56K | 14.4% | 12.4% | 4% | C− |
| 4,009 | Greenup IL | 1,330 | $51K | 9.2% | 3.3% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Charlotte, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
11% of Charlotte works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Gerry (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charlotte workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | – | C− | C | 30 min | $61,082 |
| Gerry | 6% | C+ | C | 27 min | $68,667 |
| Arkwright | under 4% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Cherry Creek | 5% | D | B | 24 min | $57,058 |
| Stockton | under 4% | B− | B | 23 min | $73,500 |
| Sinclairville | under 4% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Villenova | under 4% | D | D− | 24 min | $64,185 |
Same-state neighbors only. Arkwright and Sinclairville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Charlotte’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 2024, 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 Charlotte: questions
What is the median household income in Charlotte?
$61,082 (±$4,431) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charlotte?
11.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charlotte?
30 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charlotte work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dunkirk (9%, 13 mi), Jamestown (9%, 14 mi), Ellicott (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Charlotte walkable?
Charlotte is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charlotte without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charlotte, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charlotte
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.