Work & commute · Sugar Mountain

Work & commute in Sugar Mountain, NC

Most working residents leave Sugar Mountain for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Boone (10%), Charlotte (4%) and Banner Elk (4%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 114 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 110 Sugar Mountain residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 626 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sugar Mountain.

110live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

626work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sugar Mountain goes to work

Boone12.7 mi away

10%11

Charlotte85.9 mi away

4%5

Banner Elk2.3 mi away

4%4

Sugar Mountain (in town)right here

4%4

Asheville54.4 mi away

4%4

Linville4.1 mi away

4%4

Newland4.4 mi away

3%3

Seven Devils3.3 mi away

3%3

Blowing Rock11.1 mi away

3%3

Greensboro114 mi away

3%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

61%70

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

How far

How far Sugar Mountain commutes

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

27%

21%

15%

37%

27%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

37%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sugar Mountain is a job hub

5.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sugar Mountain are

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

Jobs based in Sugar Mountain

630 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less40%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month28%

Jobs Sugar Mountain residents hold

114 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month46%

+11%

Jobs based in Sugar Mountain, 2013 → 2023: 566 → 630. 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.