Work & commute · Banner Elk

Work & commute in Banner Elk, NC

Most working residents leave Banner Elk for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Boone (11%), Sugar Mountain (4%) and Charlotte (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

42 of 351 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

32%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 309 Banner Elk residents head out of town to work, 42 work right here, and 924 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Banner Elk.

309live here, work elsewhere

42live and work here

924work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Banner Elk goes to work

Banner Elk (in town)right here

12%42

Boone11.9 mi away

11%39

Sugar Mountain2.3 mi away

4%15

Charlotte87.7 mi away

4%15

Asheville55.9 mi away

3%12

Newland5.9 mi away

2%8

Blowing Rock11.4 mi away

2%8

Seven Devils3.1 mi away

2%6

Beech Mountain3.7 mi away

1%5

Morganton30.4 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%196

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Banner Elk commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

40%

19%

11%

30%

40%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Banner Elk is a job hub

2.75jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Banner Elk are

966 jobs are based in Banner Elk. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Banner Elk’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Banner Elk

966 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month37%

Jobs Banner Elk residents hold

351 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month45%

+29%

Jobs based in Banner Elk, 2013 → 2023: 746 → 966. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.