Work & commute · Catawba

Work & commute in Catawba, NC

Most working residents leave Catawba for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Hickory (11%), Newton (7%) and Charlotte (6%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 388 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 384 Catawba residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 310 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Catawba.

384live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

310work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Catawba goes to work

Hickory14.3 mi away

11%41

Newton9.7 mi away

7%29

Charlotte37 mi away

6%24

Conover8.2 mi away

6%23

Mooresville16 mi away

6%22

Statesville12.3 mi away

5%20

Claremont4.8 mi away

4%14

Lake Norman of Catawba8.8 mi away

3%12

Huntersville23.7 mi away

3%10

Winston-Salem52.9 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%186

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

How far

How far Catawba commutes

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

27%

40%

18%

15%

27%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Catawba is balanced between jobs and homes

0.81jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Catawba are

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

Jobs based in Catawba

314 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)52%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month72%

Jobs Catawba residents hold

388 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+43%

Jobs based in Catawba, 2013 → 2023: 219 → 314. 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.