Work & commute · Blowing Rock

Work & commute in Blowing Rock, NC

Most working residents leave Blowing Rock for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Boone (25%), Lenoir (4%) and Charlotte (3%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

64 of 437 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 373 Blowing Rock residents head out of town to work, 64 work right here, and 1,666 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Blowing Rock.

373live here, work elsewhere

64live and work here

1,666work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Blowing Rock goes to work

Boone5.8 mi away

25%111

Blowing Rock (in town)right here

15%64

Lenoir17.4 mi away

4%18

Charlotte79 mi away

3%15

Raleigh170.4 mi away

2%10

Asheville62.9 mi away

2%7

Wilkesboro27.3 mi away

1%6

Banner Elk11.4 mi away

1%5

Hickory33.3 mi away

1%5

Greensboro102.9 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%191

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

How far

How far Blowing Rock commutes

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

52%

11%

26%

52%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Blowing Rock is a job hub

3.96jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Blowing Rock are

1,730 jobs are based in Blowing Rock. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blowing Rock’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Blowing Rock

1,730 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month31%

Jobs Blowing Rock residents hold

437 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+18%

Jobs based in Blowing Rock, 2013 → 2023: 1,460 → 1,730. 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.