Most CRE analysis focuses on residential demographics — median income, population density, educational attainment. But for commercial real estate, what matters is where people work, not where they sleep.
The Census Bureau's LEHD LODES (Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics) dataset answers this question at extraordinary granularity: census-block-level data on every employer-employee relationship in the country.
What We Loaded
We ingested Workplace Area Characteristics (WAC) files for 17 states covering all 22 Axiom Locus metros. The data includes:
- ●Total jobs per census block
- ●Age breakdown: Young (≤29), mid-career (30-54), senior (55+)
- ●Earnings tiers: Low (≤$1,250/mo), mid ($1,251-$3,333), high (>$3,333)
- ●13 NAICS sectors including construction, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, finance, professional services, and food/accommodation
For any location, we can now answer: *What kinds of jobs are concentrated here, how much do they pay, and where do those workers commute from?*
Why This Matters for CRE
High-earner concentration predicts office demand. A census tract where 60% of jobs pay >$3,333/month tells you that employers are competing for talent in that location — driving demand for Class A office, premium lunch spots, and transit access.
Sector composition predicts tenant mix. A tract dominated by healthcare jobs (NAICS 16) needs different retail than one dominated by finance (NAICS 10). Healthcare workers need scrubs shops and quick-service food; finance workers need dry cleaners and cocktail bars.
Commuter inflow volume predicts daytime foot traffic. The properties near transit stations with high inflow from high-income residential areas are the most undervalued in CRE — research consistently shows 5-42% price premiums for transit-proximate commercial assets.
This data layer feeds directly into our Economic Strength and Business Vitality scoring groups, adding census-block precision to what was previously metro-level approximation.