Work & commute · Light Oak

Work & commute in Light Oak, NC

Most working residents leave Light Oak for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Shelby (22%), Gastonia (14%) and Charlotte (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 318 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

— 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 317 Light Oak residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 45 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Light Oak.

317live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

45work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Light Oak goes to work

Shelby3.9 mi away

22%70

Gastonia16.7 mi away

14%44

Charlotte36.9 mi away

6%19

Kings Mountain8 mi away

6%18

Asheville63.6 mi away

3%10

Lenoir42.9 mi away

2%5

Concord48 mi away

1%4

Greensboro108.3 mi away

1%4

Raleigh163.8 mi away

1%4

Lowell21 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%137

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

How far

How far Light Oak commutes

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

41%

20%

17%

21%

41%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Light Oak is a commuter town

0.14jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Light Oak are

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

Jobs based in Light Oak

46 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities43%

Services (health, schools, offices…)33%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Light Oak residents hold

318 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month42%

+39%

Jobs based in Light Oak, 2013 → 2023: 33 → 46. 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.