Work & commute · Valdese

Work & commute in Valdese, NC

Most working residents leave Valdese for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Morganton (18%), Hickory (13%) and Charlotte (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

180 of 1,912 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,732 Valdese residents head out of town to work, 180 work right here, and 2,184 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Valdese.

1,732live here, work elsewhere

180live and work here

2,184work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Valdese goes to work

Morganton7.2 mi away

18%353

Hickory14.1 mi away

13%249

Valdese (in town)right here

9%180

Charlotte56.2 mi away

5%96

Lenoir11 mi away

3%50

Icard6.8 mi away

2%34

Conover20.2 mi away

2%33

Long View10.7 mi away

1%27

Hildebran8.9 mi away

1%26

Raleigh164.4 mi away

1%26

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%838

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

How far

How far Valdese commutes

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

41%

26%

12%

22%

41%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Valdese is balanced between jobs and homes

1.24jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Valdese are

2,364 jobs are based in Valdese. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Valdese’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Valdese

2,364 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)52%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Valdese residents hold

1,912 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−24%

Jobs based in Valdese, 2013 → 2023: 3,116 → 2,364. 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.