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Work & commute · Ruth

Work & commute in Ruth, NC

Most working residents leave Ruth for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Forest City (16%), Rutherfordton (13%) and Charlotte (6%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
3%
4 of 140 working residents
Typical commute
13 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
25 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
1%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 136 Ruth residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 367 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ruth.

136live here, work elsewhere
4live and work here
367work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Ruth goes to work

RuthRutherfordtonBoiling SpringsSpindaleMarionForest CityLake LureShelbyAshevilleCharlotteRaleighGreerSpartanburgCliffsideBoiling SpringsForest CityRutherfordtonCharlotteSpindaleMarionLake LureShelbyAshevilleRaleighRuth
1
Forest City5.3 mi away
16%22
2
Rutherfordton1.6 mi away
13%18
3
Charlotte63.9 mi away
6%9
4
Spindale2 mi away
5%7
5
Ruth (in town)right here
3%4
6
Marion20.5 mi away
2%3
7
Lake Lure15.2 mi away
2%3
8
Shelby23.4 mi away
2%3
9
Asheville36.6 mi away
2%3
10
Raleigh188.2 mi away
2%3
Everywhere elseother towns and states
46%65

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

How far

How far Ruth commutes

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

48%Under 10 mi
12%10–24 mi
16%25–50 mi
24%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Ruth is a job hub

2.65jobs per working resident
A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Ruth are

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

Jobs based in Ruth

371 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)87%
Trade, transport & utilities4%
Services (health, schools, offices…)9%
$1,250 a month or less3%
$1,251–$3,333 a month19%
Over $3,333 a month77%

Jobs Ruth residents hold

140 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)30%
Trade, transport & utilities19%
Services (health, schools, offices…)51%
$1,250 a month or less10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month39%
Over $3,333 a month51%
+471%

Jobs based in Ruth, 2013 → 2023: 65 → 371. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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