Photo: Okayfurry119 · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.3 jobs in Atlantic Beach for every working resident, and 959 people commute in
For jobs and income Atlantic Beach is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). There are 1,017 jobs in Atlantic Beach, against 442 working residents. About one in seven work in Atlantic Beach itself; outside it, Morehead City draws the most (17%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Atlantic Beach in brief
Atlantic Beach is where the jobs are
Atlantic Beach has 1,017 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,000 people are in town, 41% more than the 1,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Atlantic Beach and Morehead City trade workers both ways
Morehead City is the top workplace for Atlantic Beach residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Atlantic Beach come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 442 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Atlantic Beach’s grade explained
Household income holds Atlantic Beach’s grade up ($70,402, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (2.9%) is left out: Atlantic Beach’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Atlantic Beach could be anywhere from D to B.
How a workday changes Atlantic Beach
On a workday 384 residents head out to work and 58 work right here.
About 2,000 people are in Atlantic Beach on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Atlantic Beach
Where Atlantic Beach clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
How many miles Atlantic Beach commutes
About 38% 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 Atlantic Beach’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atlantic Beach, 2013 → 2023: 792 → 1,017. 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 Atlantic Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Atlantic Beach: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atlantic Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 598 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
In Atlantic Beach, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 703 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.3% of Atlantic Beach households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Atlantic Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,928th of 5,877: where Atlantic Beach ranks among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 267 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,926 | Osgood IN | 1,602 | $53K | 9.7% | 5.1% | 9% | C− |
| 3,927 | Chinook MT | 1,155 | $62K | 8.4% | 6.2% | 36% | C− |
| 3,928 | Atlantic Beach NC | 1,408 | $70K | 15.6% | 2.9% | 13% | C− |
| 3,929 | Montgomery Township IN | 1,222 | $60K | 10.2% | 4.4% | <1% | C− |
| 3,930 | Princeton Township IN | 1,540 | $71K | 16.8% | 2.3% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Atlantic Beach, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Atlantic Beach: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Atlantic Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Beach | – | C− | B− | 21 min | $70,402 |
| Pine Knoll Shores | under 2% | B+ | B− | 26 min | $109,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Atlantic Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Atlantic Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Atlantic Beach?
$70,402 (±$22,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atlantic Beach?
15.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atlantic Beach?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atlantic Beach work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morehead City (17%, 2 mi), Beaufort (7%, 5 mi), Raleigh (4%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atlantic Beach walkable?
Atlantic Beach is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atlantic Beach 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 Atlantic Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atlantic Beach
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.