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Work & commute · Drexel

Work & commute in Drexel, NC

Most working residents leave Drexel for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Morganton (25%), Hickory (8%) and Charlotte (6%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
1%
10 of 672 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
20 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
6%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 662 Drexel residents head out of town to work, 10 work right here, and 275 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Drexel.

662live here, work elsewhere
10live and work here
275work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Drexel goes to work

DrexelGlen AlpineRutherford CollegeHudsonSawmillsMarionValdeseConoverNewtonLenoirMorgantonHickoryCharlotteIcardMorgantonHickoryCharlotteValdeseLenoirRutherford CollegeHudsonConoverNewtonDrexel
1
Morganton5.3 mi away
25%165
2
Hickory16.1 mi away
8%51
3
Charlotte57.9 mi away
6%42
4
Valdese2 mi away
5%34
5
Lenoir11.5 mi away
3%23
6
Rutherford College4.6 mi away
2%11
7
Drexel (in town)right here
1%10
8
Hudson9.3 mi away
1%10
9
Conover22.3 mi away
1%10
10
Newton22.1 mi away
1%10
Everywhere elseother towns and states
46%306

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

How far

How far Drexel commutes

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

41%Under 10 mi
22%10–24 mi
13%25–50 mi
23%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Drexel is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident
A commuter town

0.42 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Drexel are

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

Jobs based in Drexel

285 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)2%
Trade, transport & utilities5%
Services (health, schools, offices…)93%
$1,250 a month or less25%
$1,251–$3,333 a month38%
Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Drexel residents hold

672 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)29%
Trade, transport & utilities16%
Services (health, schools, offices…)54%
$1,250 a month or less16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month36%
Over $3,333 a month49%
+54%

Jobs based in Drexel, 2013 → 2023: 185 → 285. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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