Work & commute · Dobson

Work & commute in Dobson, NC

Most working residents leave Dobson for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Mount Airy (16%), Winston-Salem (7%) and Elkin (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

100 of 574 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 474 Dobson residents head out of town to work, 100 work right here, and 2,777 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dobson.

474live here, work elsewhere

100live and work here

2,777work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dobson goes to work

Dobson (in town)right here

17%100

Mount Airy10 mi away

16%89

Winston-Salem32.7 mi away

7%40

Elkin11.3 mi away

4%24

Charlotte82 mi away

4%24

Pilot Mountain13.9 mi away

2%9

Wilkesboro30.6 mi away

1%8

Greensboro54.2 mi away

1%7

Boone53.9 mi away

1%6

Mooresville56.2 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%261

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

How far

How far Dobson commutes

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

43%

17%

16%

24%

43%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dobson is a job hub

5.01jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Dobson are

2,877 jobs are based in Dobson. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Dobson’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Dobson

2,877 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Dobson residents hold

574 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month47%

−3%

Jobs based in Dobson, 2013 → 2023: 2,977 → 2,877. 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.