Work & commute · Sparta

Work & commute in Sparta, NC

About one in 4 of Sparta’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Charlotte (5%), Elkin (2%) and Galax (2%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27%

168 of 623 working residents

Typical commute

11 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 455 Sparta residents head out of town to work, 168 work right here, and 1,403 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sparta.

455live here, work elsewhere

168live and work here

1,403work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sparta goes to work

Sparta (in town)right here

27%168

Charlotte90.8 mi away

5%32

Elkin22.4 mi away

2%15

Galax, VA16.1 mi away

2%15

Winston-Salem55.3 mi away

2%14

Greensboro77.5 mi away

2%11

Independence, VA8.8 mi away

2%11

Mooresville65.5 mi away

1%9

West Jefferson22.1 mi away

1%8

Raleigh145.9 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%332

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

How far

How far Sparta commutes

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

48%

12%

34%

48%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sparta is a job hub

2.52jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sparta are

1,571 jobs are based in Sparta. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sparta’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sparta

1,571 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Sparta residents hold

623 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month38%

+21%

Jobs based in Sparta, 2013 → 2023: 1,294 → 1,571. 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.