economy
Job density
Job density
Workplace jobs per square mile (LEHD LODES WAC over tract land area)
Why is this important?
Job density marks employment centers and the commercial/industrial intensity that drives traffic, energy use, and night-time light. Higher and lower values are not inherently better or worse.
About the Data
Workplace jobs from the Census Bureau's LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES8 Workplace Area Characteristics, 2014–2022), summed from 2020 census blocks to tracts. LODES is a synthetic, noise-infused full count rather than a survey sample, so it carries no sampling margin of error.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES).
Additional Resources
About the Charlotte region
This explorer covers the 14-county, two-state Charlotte region (11 North Carolina and 3 South Carolina counties). Many of these indicators connect to a defining regional story: a landmark Harvard study ranked Charlotte last, 50th of the 50 largest U.S. metros for economic mobility (a child raised in the poorest fifth had about a 4.4% chance of reaching the top fifth), a finding that launched the region's Leading on Opportunity agenda. Updated 2024 data show Charlotte has since climbed to 38th.
Opportunity here is also unevenly mapped. An affluent “wedge” fanning southeast from uptown holds a large majority of the city's wealth on under a quarter of its land, while a ”crescent” to the north, west, and east carries higher poverty, a legacy of redlining, exclusionary zoning, and highway routing that recurs across the race, income, health, tree-canopy, and school maps in this tool. No single indicator is good or bad on its own; together they describe how the region sorted opportunity.
Companion resources: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer · UNC Charlotte Urban Institute · Opportunity Atlas · Methods & sources
About the data
Workplace jobs from the Census Bureau's LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES8 Workplace Area Characteristics, 2014–2022), summed from 2020 census blocks to tracts. LODES is a synthetic, noise-infused full count rather than a survey sample, so it carries no sampling margin of error.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES).