Work & commute · Forest

Work & commute in Forest, NC

Most working residents leave Forest for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Charlotte (7%), Rutherfordton (6%) and Spindale (4%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

435 of 2,897 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 2,462 Forest residents head out of town to work, 435 work right here, and 5,326 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Forest.

2,462live here, work elsewhere

435live and work here

5,326work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Forest goes to work

Forest City (in town)right here

15%435

Charlotte59.3 mi away

7%211

Rutherfordton5.5 mi away

6%171

Spindale3.4 mi away

4%117

Shelby18.6 mi away

4%113

Asheville41.7 mi away

3%101

Gastonia39.1 mi away

2%55

Raleigh184.7 mi away

2%44

Morganton29.7 mi away

1%43

Hickory41.4 mi away

1%41

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%1,566

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

How far

How far Forest commutes

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

39%

13%

24%

25%

39%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Forest is a job hub

1.99jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Forest are

5,761 jobs are based in Forest. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Forest

5,761 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Forest residents hold

2,897 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month46%

−11%

Jobs based in Forest, 2013 → 2023: 6,479 → 5,761. 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.