Jobs and the daily commute in Bailey
Home is the office for 7% of workers, against 16% across North Carolina. Only 5% work in Bailey itself; outside it, Wilson draws the most (23%, 11 miles). Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Bailey, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 203 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 327 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Bailey on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Who travels to work in Bailey, and from where
Where Bailey clocks in
23% of workers
10% 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.
What the 337 jobs in Bailey are
337 jobs are based in Bailey.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bailey, 2013 → 2023: 284 → 337. 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 Bailey’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way, about the NC average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bailey workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 138 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Bailey goes to work
About 15% 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 Bailey: questions
What is the median household income in Bailey?
$60,208 (±$27,147) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bailey?
17.8%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bailey?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bailey work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilson (23%, 11 mi), Raleigh (10%, 30 mi), Nashville (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bailey 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 Bailey, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bailey
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.