Spencer is a very small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 3,406 people and just one neighborhood, Spencer is the 237th largest community in North Carolina. Much of the housing stock in Spencer was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
When you are in Spencer, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 45.70% of Spencer’s employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 27.7% that do. Overall, Spencer is a town of professionals, production and manufacturing workers, and transportation and shipping workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Spencer who work in sales jobs (8.46%), teaching (7.20%), and office and administrative support (6.99%).
Also of interest is that Spencer has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.75% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Spencer is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The percentage of people in Spencer who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 25.62% of adults in Spencer have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Spencer in 2022 was $34,584, which is upper middle income relative to North Carolina, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $138,336 for a family of four. However, Spencer contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Spencer is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Spencer home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Spencer residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Spencer include English, Scots-Irish, German, Irish, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Spencer is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
The neighborhood stands out within North Carolina for its college student friendly environment. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 5.6% of college-friendly places to live in NC.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scots-Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 9.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Scots-Irish ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Spencer are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 65.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 17.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 66.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 37.8% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 34.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (17.9%), and 9.2% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Spencer, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (15.0%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.5%), and residents who report Scots-Irish roots (9.4%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (3.8%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (2.4%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (63.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (17.0%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.