Work & commute · Waynesville

Work & commute in Waynesville, NC

About one in 4 of Waynesville’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Asheville (12%), Sylva (4%) and Canton (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23%

981 of 4,291 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,310 Waynesville residents head out of town to work, 981 work right here, and 5,605 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waynesville.

3,310live here, work elsewhere

981live and work here

5,605work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waynesville goes to work

Waynesville (in town)right here

23%981

Asheville25.8 mi away

12%515

Sylva14.5 mi away

4%191

Canton9.7 mi away

4%162

Charlotte123.7 mi away

2%78

Lake Junaluska3.4 mi away

2%74

Raleigh245.8 mi away

1%64

Cullowhee15.9 mi away

1%64

Cherokee17 mi away

1%58

Knoxville, TN63 mi away

1%55

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%2,049

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

How far

How far Waynesville commutes

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

38%

23%

19%

20%

38%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waynesville is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waynesville are

6,586 jobs are based in Waynesville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waynesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waynesville

6,586 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Waynesville residents hold

4,291 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+15%

Jobs based in Waynesville, 2013 → 2023: 5,746 → 6,586. 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.