Work & commute · Mills River

Work & commute in Mills River, NC

Most working residents leave Mills River for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Asheville (24%), Hendersonville (9%) and Charlotte (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

273 of 3,057 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,784 Mills River residents head out of town to work, 273 work right here, and 4,338 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Mills River.

2,784live here, work elsewhere

273live and work here

4,338work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Mills River goes to work

Asheville13.3 mi away

24%726

Hendersonville8.5 mi away

9%279

Mills River (in town)right here

9%273

Charlotte99.9 mi away

4%119

Fletcher5.8 mi away

3%92

Brevard12.1 mi away

3%81

Raleigh223.9 mi away

1%44

Etowah5.3 mi away

1%41

East Flat Rock11.9 mi away

1%39

Mountain Home5 mi away

1%37

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%1,326

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

How far

How far Mills River commutes

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

44%

33%

18%

44%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Mills River is a job hub

1.51jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Mills River are

4,611 jobs are based in Mills River. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mills River’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Mills River

4,611 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)47%

Trade, transport & utilities34%

Services (health, schools, offices…)18%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Mills River residents hold

3,057 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+168%

Jobs based in Mills River, 2013 → 2023: 1,718 → 4,611. 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.