Photo: Aurora30 at English Wikipedia · Public domainA job hub: Beaufort has 1.8 jobs per working resident, and 2,460 people come in to work
There are 2,828 jobs in Beaufort, and 1,596 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Beaufort are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Beaufort in brief
Beaufort is where the jobs are
Beaufort has 2,828 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Beaufort and Morehead City trade workers both ways
Morehead City is the top workplace for Beaufort residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Beaufort come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Beaufort are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Beaufort
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beaufort is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #241 of 290 in North Carolina. The poverty rate holds Beaufort’s grade up (11.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beaufort could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Beaufort fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,228 residents head out to work and 368 work right here.
About 6,100 people are in Beaufort on a workday afternoon, 25% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Beaufort live
Where Beaufort clocks in
19% 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.
About 20 minutes each way for Beaufort’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beaufort workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,636 commuters (the 22% 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 Beaufort goes to work
About 32% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Beaufort
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beaufort, 2013 → 2023: 2,128 → 2,828. 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 Beaufort’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Beaufort is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beaufort is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #77 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 2,085 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). 7.0% of Beaufort households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Beaufort’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600, Beaufort ranks 3,269th of 3,840 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,267 | Iola KS | 5,240 | $54K | 8.6% | 8.4% | 37% | C− |
| 3,268 | Lee Township MI | 3,836 | $65K | 18.7% | 5.6% | 2% | C− |
| 3,269 | Beaufort NC | 4,912 | $53K | 11.2% | 5.7% | 23% | C− |
| 3,270 | Belton SC | 4,631 | $49K | 19.6% | 7.0% | 4% | C− |
| 3,271 | Camden TN | 3,690 | $55K | 19.8% | 4.4% | 24% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Beaufort, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work next door: 19% of Beaufort’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Beaufort workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | – | C− | B | 20 min | $53,321 |
| Morehead City | 19% | C | B | 18 min | $56,233 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Morehead City. Darker towns draw more of Beaufort’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 Beaufort: questions
What is the median household income in Beaufort?
$53,321 (±$14,093) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beaufort?
11.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beaufort?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beaufort work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morehead City (19%, 5 mi), Raleigh (4%, 136 mi), Jacksonville (3%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Beaufort walkable?
Beaufort is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beaufort without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beaufort, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beaufort
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.