Unemployment in Barbecue (1.5%) is lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Barbecue is better than 75% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (C). 6% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%. Only 1% work in Barbecue; the top destination outside it is Sanford (12%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Barbecue, in a few figures
Barbecue workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Barbecue pay little
30% of the jobs based in Barbecue pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 34% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Barbecue is a place people come home to
There are 534 jobs based in Barbecue, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Barbecue
54% of Barbecue residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Barbecue pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Barbecue
Unemployment holds Barbecue’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Barbecue could be anywhere from B to A−.
How long Barbecue spends getting to work: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barbecue workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,571 commuters (the 6% 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.
What the 534 jobs in Barbecue are
534 jobs are based in Barbecue.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barbecue, 2013 → 2023: 421 → 534. 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 Barbecue’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Barbecue by day and by night
On a workday 1,826 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 514 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Barbecue on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where people from Barbecue work
Where Barbecue clocks in
12% of workers
11% 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.
How far it is to work from Barbecue
About 22% 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.
Few in Barbecue walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,745 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). 7.8% of Barbecue households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Barbecue’s commuters take a bus or train.
Barbecue next to U.S. towns of 4,100 to 8,000: 999th of 3,494 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 188 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 997 | Oakfield Township MI | 6,190 | $103K | 7.4% | 3.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 998 | Buchanan WI | 6,793 | $105K | 2.3% | 8.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 999 | Barbecue NC | 5,910 | $79K | 3.9% | 1.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,000 | Eagle CO | 7,280 | $110K | 6.8% | 1.5% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,001 | Magnolia NJ | 4,415 | $101K | 6.9% | 6.2% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,494 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Barbecue, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Barbecue and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barbecue workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbecue | – | B+ | C | 36 min | $79,426 |
| Spout Springs | under 2% | B | B− | 32 min | $92,402 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Barbecue’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 Barbecue: questions
What is the median household income in Barbecue?
$79,426 (±$5,739) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barbecue?
3.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barbecue?
36 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barbecue work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sanford (12%, 14 mi), Fayetteville (11%, 17 mi), Raleigh (10%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barbecue walkable?
Barbecue is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barbecue without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barbecue, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barbecue
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.