Work & commute · Rutherford College

Work & commute in Rutherford College, NC

Most working residents leave Rutherford College for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Morganton (16%), Hickory (14%) and Valdese (9%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 542 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 537 Rutherford College residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 535 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rutherford College.

537live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

535work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rutherford College goes to work

Morganton9.7 mi away

16%88

Hickory11.5 mi away

14%76

Valdese2.6 mi away

9%48

Lenoir10.7 mi away

6%34

Charlotte54.2 mi away

4%23

Hildebran6.4 mi away

2%11

Conover17.7 mi away

2%10

Asheville58.9 mi away

2%9

Winston-Salem74.9 mi away

1%8

Raleigh161.8 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%227

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

How far

How far Rutherford College commutes

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

42%

25%

14%

19%

42%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rutherford College is balanced between jobs and homes

1.00jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.00 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Rutherford College are

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

Jobs based in Rutherford College

540 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)50%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)38%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month50%

Over $3,333 a month36%

Jobs Rutherford College residents hold

542 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

−26%

Jobs based in Rutherford College, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 540. 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.