Photo: EbonyEaton · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Butner (5.5%) than in 68% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 24 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. Butner grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 6% work in Butner itself; outside it, Durham draws the most (24%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Butner, in a few figures
Butner has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Butner went from 2,058 in 2013 to 4,042 in 2023, +96%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
56% of the jobs in Butner are in trade, transport and utilities, against 20% of the jobs its residents hold. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Butner earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Butner is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #163 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Butner’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Butner could be anywhere from C− to B.
Jobs in Butner: what the 4,042 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Butner, 2013 → 2023: 2,058 → 4,042. 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 Butner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Butner on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,636 residents head out to work, 157 work right here, and 3,885 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,400 people are in Butner on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Butner to work: where people go
Where Butner clocks in
24% of workers
16% of workers
3% 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 daily trip from Butner: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Butner workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,931 commuters (the 12% 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.
Butner’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In Butner, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Butner is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns, #238 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 3,339 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). 3.7% of Butner households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Butner’s commuters take a bus or train.
Butner places 2,052nd of 3,007 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,000
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 193 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 366 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 407 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,050 | Wabash Township IN | 6,698 | $61K | 10.0% | 3.5% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,051 | Lahaina HI | 10,162 | $89K | 11.5% | 5.8% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,052 | Butner NC | 8,112 | $75K | 15.0% | 5.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,053 | Sitka AK | 8,319 | $102K | 7.5% | 6.8% | — | C+ |
| 2,054 | West Athens CA | 8,726 | $67K | 15.3% | 10.0% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Butner, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
How Butner compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Creedmoor (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Butner’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 Butner: questions
What is the median household income in Butner?
$74,739 (±$5,511) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Butner?
15.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Butner?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Butner work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durham (24%, 14 mi), Raleigh (16%, 22 mi), Charlotte (3%, 134 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Butner walkable?
Butner is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Butner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Butner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Butner
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.