Work & commute · Highlands

Work & commute in Highlands, NC

About one in 3 of Highlands’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Franklin (3%), Charlotte (3%) and Asheville (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

31%

131 of 417 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 286 Highlands residents head out of town to work, 131 work right here, and 1,533 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highlands.

286live here, work elsewhere

131live and work here

1,533work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highlands goes to work

Highlands (in town)right here

31%131

Franklin13.5 mi away

3%13

Charlotte134.2 mi away

3%12

Asheville51 mi away

3%11

Knoxville, TN76.2 mi away

3%11

Raleigh262 mi away

2%10

Cashiers6.8 mi away

2%10

Greensboro202.8 mi away

1%4

Maryville, TN65.1 mi away

1%3

Dillard, GA11.8 mi away

0%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%210

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

How far

How far Highlands commutes

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

59%

25%

59%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highlands is a job hub

3.99jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Highlands are

1,664 jobs are based in Highlands. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Highlands

1,664 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Highlands residents hold

417 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+41%

Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 1,180 → 1,664. 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.