Photo: KudzuVine · Public domainBald Head Island has 6.9 jobs for every working resident: 572 people commute in to work
For 62% of workers, the job is at home; North Carolina has 16%. Employers in Bald Head Island report 583 jobs; 84 of its residents have a job. About one in seven stay in Bald Head Island for work; outside it, Wilmington is the main destination (18%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Bald Head Island
On a workday 73 residents head out to work and 11 work right here.
About 780 people are in Bald Head Island on a workday afternoon, 179% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Bald Head Island
Where Bald Head Island clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Bald Head Island
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bald Head Island, 2014 → 2024: 574 → 583. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bald Head Island’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Bald Head Island: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bald Head Island workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26 commuters (the 62% 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.
Miles to work from Bald Head Island
About 37% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Bald Head Island: questions
What is the median household income in Bald Head Island?
$209,219 (±$51,590) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bald Head Island?
6.8%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bald Head Island?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 62% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bald Head Island work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (18%, 24 mi), Oak Island (6%, 12 mi), Charlotte (4%, 187 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Bald Head Island without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 34% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bald Head Island, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bald Head Island
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.