Most of Atlantic commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; North Carolina has 16%. Atlantic has 23 jobs, against 148 working residents. Only 3% work in Atlantic; the top destination outside it is Morehead City (20%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Atlantic on a workday
On a workday 144 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Atlantic on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 Atlantic’s working residents head each day
Where Atlantic clocks in
20% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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 Atlantic
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atlantic, 2013 → 2023: 33 → 23. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atlantic workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 163 commuters (the 5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Atlantic
About 42% 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 Atlantic: questions
What is the median household income in Atlantic?
$51,071 (±$15,328) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atlantic?
18.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atlantic?
34 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atlantic work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morehead City (20%, 25 mi), Beaufort (11%, 21 mi), Raleigh (6%, 145 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Atlantic without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atlantic, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atlantic
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.