Work & commute · Hays

Work & commute in Hays, NC

Most working residents leave Hays for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Wilkesboro (18%), North Wilkesboro (11%) and Winston-Salem (8%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

7 of 621 working residents

Typical commute

16 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 614 Hays residents head out of town to work, 7 work right here, and 157 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Hays.

614live here, work elsewhere

7live and work here

157work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Hays goes to work

Wilkesboro8 mi away

18%113

North Wilkesboro5.3 mi away

11%71

Winston-Salem48.6 mi away

8%47

Elkin14.9 mi away

4%26

Charlotte73.4 mi away

3%20

Moravian Falls10.4 mi away

2%14

Raleigh141.1 mi away

2%12

Mooresville48.5 mi away

2%10

High Point65 mi away

2%10

Jonesville15.6 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%289

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

How far

How far Hays commutes

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

43%

15%

19%

24%

43%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Hays is a commuter town

0.26jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Hays are

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

Jobs based in Hays

164 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month49%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Hays residents hold

621 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month47%

−1%

Jobs based in Hays, 2013 → 2023: 166 → 164. 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.