Work & commute · Spindale

Work & commute in Spindale, NC

Most working residents leave Spindale for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Forest City (11%), Rutherfordton (8%) and Charlotte (8%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

104 of 1,760 working residents

Typical commute

23 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 1,656 Spindale residents head out of town to work, 104 work right here, and 1,968 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Spindale.

1,656live here, work elsewhere

104live and work here

1,968work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Spindale goes to work

Forest City3.4 mi away

11%196

Rutherfordton2.2 mi away

8%138

Charlotte62.5 mi away

8%133

Spindale (in town)right here

6%104

Shelby21.8 mi away

3%56

Asheville38.3 mi away

3%54

Ruth2 mi away

2%37

Columbus17.8 mi away

1%23

Marion22.3 mi away

1%22

Morganton29.2 mi away

1%21

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%976

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

How far

How far Spindale commutes

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

39%

13%

23%

26%

39%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Spindale is balanced between jobs and homes

1.18jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.18 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Spindale are

2,072 jobs are based in Spindale. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Spindale’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Spindale

2,072 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)47%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Spindale residents hold

1,760 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month45%

−3%

Jobs based in Spindale, 2013 → 2023: 2,134 → 2,072. 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.