Work & commute · Cullowhee

Work & commute in Cullowhee, NC

Most working residents leave Cullowhee for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Sylva (14%), Charlotte (5%) and Asheville (4%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

251 of 1,898 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,647 Cullowhee residents head out of town to work, 251 work right here, and 2,039 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cullowhee.

1,647live here, work elsewhere

251live and work here

2,039work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cullowhee goes to work

Sylva5 mi away

14%273

Cullowhee (in town)right here

13%251

Charlotte132.8 mi away

5%90

Asheville39.7 mi away

4%85

Cashiers14.7 mi away

4%68

Cherokee13.9 mi away

3%63

Waynesville15.9 mi away

3%59

Raleigh257.7 mi away

2%37

Bryson City17 mi away

2%31

Franklin14.4 mi away

2%30

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%911

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

How far

How far Cullowhee commutes

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

38%

24%

10%

29%

38%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cullowhee is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cullowhee are

2,290 jobs are based in Cullowhee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cullowhee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cullowhee

2,290 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities0%

Services (health, schools, offices…)100%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Cullowhee residents hold

1,898 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+32%

Jobs based in Cullowhee, 2013 → 2023: 1,733 → 2,290. 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.