Photo: Annebethmi · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Carolina Beach (7.8%) is higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Carolina Beach; the top destination outside it is Wilmington (29%, 12 miles). For jobs and income Carolina Beach is better than 50% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). Household incomes here are higher than in 72% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Carolina Beach: the figures worth knowing
Carolina Beach trades workers with the towns around it
Carolina Beach has about as many jobs (2,478) as working residents (2,435), but they are mostly different people: 1,956 residents leave for work each day while 1,999 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Carolina Beach are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Carolina Beach has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Carolina Beach went from 1,421 in 2014 to 2,478 in 2024, +74%. The jobs ↓
Carolina Beach and Wilmington trade workers both ways
Wilmington is the top workplace for Carolina Beach residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Carolina Beach come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, 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.
Inside Carolina Beach’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Carolina Beach’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carolina Beach could be anywhere from C to A.
Who leaves Carolina Beach for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,956 residents head out to work, 479 work right here, and 1,999 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Carolina Beach: 2,478 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carolina Beach, 2014 → 2024: 1,421 → 2,478. 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 Carolina Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Carolina Beach work
Where Carolina Beach clocks in
29% of workers
4% 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.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Carolina Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carolina Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,656 commuters (the 20% 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.
Carolina Beach’s commute, mile by mile
About 30% 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.
Carolina Beach is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,309 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.3% of Carolina Beach households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carolina Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,300, Carolina Beach ranks 1,845th of 3,229 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 300 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 360 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,843 | Hiawatha IA | 7,432 | $66K | 13.7% | 4.0% | 9% | B− |
| 1,844 | Webster NY | 5,761 | $70K | 10.7% | 5.6% | 6% | B− |
| 1,845 | Carolina Beach NC | 6,870 | $94K | 6.0% | 7.8% | 20% | B− |
| 1,846 | Upper Sandusky OH | 6,661 | $67K | 11.7% | 2.4% | 36% | B− |
| 1,847 | Lenox MA | 5,059 | $106K | 8.5% | 6.2% | 22% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Carolina Beach, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
How Carolina Beach compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Kure Beach (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carolina Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Beach | – | B− | A | 22 min | $94,398 |
| Kure Beach | 1% | A− | A− | 31 min | $104,149 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carolina Beach’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 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 Carolina Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Carolina Beach?
$94,398 (±$20,918) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carolina Beach?
6.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carolina Beach?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carolina Beach work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (29%, 12 mi), Charlotte (4%, 185 mi), Raleigh (3%, 131 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Carolina Beach walkable?
Carolina Beach is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carolina Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carolina Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carolina Beach
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. 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.