Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Most of Raleigh commutes out: there are 0.0 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any work in Raleigh itself; outside it, Eldorado draws the most (27%, 5 miles). There are 2 jobs in Raleigh; 94 of its residents have a job. 5% of workers have no commute at all (Illinois 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Raleigh quiets down on a workday
On a workday 94 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 2 people come in from elsewhere.
About 180 people are in Raleigh on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Raleigh’s working residents head each day
Where Raleigh clocks in
27% of workers
17% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Services make up most of the work in Raleigh
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Raleigh, 2013 → 2023: 1 → 2. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Raleigh’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Raleigh: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Raleigh workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 81 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far it is to work from Raleigh
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Raleigh: questions
What is the median household income in Raleigh?
$49,167 (±$25,426) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Raleigh?
17.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Raleigh?
20 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Raleigh work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eldorado (27%, 5 mi), Harrisburg (17%, 6 mi), Marion (5%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Raleigh without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Raleigh, from the people who make the trip.
More of Raleigh
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.