Work & commute · Sylva

Work & commute in Sylva, NC

Most working residents leave Sylva for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Cullowhee (7%), Asheville (6%) and Cherokee (5%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

179 of 1,020 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 841 Sylva residents head out of town to work, 179 work right here, and 4,676 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sylva.

841live here, work elsewhere

179live and work here

4,676work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sylva goes to work

Sylva (in town)right here

18%179

Cullowhee5 mi away

7%71

Asheville39.8 mi away

6%62

Cherokee9 mi away

5%55

Waynesville14.5 mi away

3%30

Bryson City13.4 mi away

2%23

Franklin16.3 mi away

2%18

Cashiers19.6 mi away

2%18

Raleigh259 mi away

1%14

Charlotte135.1 mi away

1%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%537

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

How far

How far Sylva commutes

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

51%

17%

12%

19%

51%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sylva is a job hub

4.76jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sylva are

4,855 jobs are based in Sylva. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sylva’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sylva

4,855 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Sylva residents hold

1,020 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+21%

Jobs based in Sylva, 2013 → 2023: 3,998 → 4,855. 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.