Photo: (User:Wgreaves) · CC BY 3.0Family incomes in Chapel Hill top those of 94% of U.S. towns
Chapel Hill grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Without college students, the poverty rate is 6.8%, where North Carolina as a whole has 12.4%. For 28% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Chapel Hill, in brief
Chapel Hill is where the jobs are
Chapel Hill has 50,889 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 93,000 people are in town, 46% more than the 64,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Chapel Hill and Durham trade workers both ways
Durham is the top workplace for Chapel Hill residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Chapel Hill come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Chapel Hill works from home
28% of Chapel Hill workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Chapel Hill is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Chapel Hill 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 ↓
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 Chapel Hill earns its Jobs & income grade
On family income, poverty and job access, Chapel Hill is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #15 of 290 in North Carolina. Family income is its strongest input ($171,227, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
35% of Chapel Hill’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (22% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 6.8%, against 18.6% for all residents. Unemployment (4.5%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($171,227), since student households pull the household median down ($85,989).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Chapel Hill could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily commute in and out of Chapel Hill
On a workday 15,574 residents head out to work, 5,783 work right here, and 45,106 people come in from elsewhere.
About 93,000 people are in Chapel Hill on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 the people who work in Chapel Hill live
Where Chapel Hill clocks in
20% of workers
10% 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 trip to work from Chapel Hill: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chapel Hill workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,865 commuters (the 28% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Chapel Hill
50,889 jobs are based in Chapel Hill.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chapel Hill, 2013 → 2023: 44,828 → 50,889. 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 Chapel Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Chapel Hill
About 17% 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.
Chapel Hill is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chapel Hill is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Chapel Hill near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,039 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 51% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 38.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 5.8% of Chapel Hill households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Chapel Hill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chapel Hill places 61st of 719 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 44,000 to 86,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Huntersville NC | 68,535 | $121K | 3.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Apex NC | 80,419 | $144K | 2.2% | 3.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Southington CT | 44,242 | $124K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 17% | A |
| 60 | Lenexa KS | 60,506 | $103K | 5.4% | 2.8% | 17% | A |
| 61 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| 62 | Wheaton IL | 54,065 | $120K | 5.6% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| 63 | Arlington Heights IL | 76,216 | $117K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Holly Springs NC | 50,288 | $136K | 4.8% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 719 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Chapel Hill, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door is work for 22% of Chapel Hill
The biggest share goes to Durham (20%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chapel Hill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill | – | A | A+ | 20 min | $85,989 |
| Carrboro | 2% | A− | A+ | 23 min | $85,743 |
| Durham | 20% | B+ | A | 22 min | $81,619 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chapel Hill’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.
- Students. 35% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Chapel Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Chapel Hill?
$85,989 (±$5,527) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chapel Hill?
18.6% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 6.8%. North Carolina: 13.0%.
How long is the commute from Chapel Hill?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chapel Hill work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durham (20%, 9 mi), Raleigh (10%, 23 mi), Charlotte (4%, 112 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chapel Hill walkable?
Chapel Hill is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chapel Hill without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 51% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chapel Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chapel Hill
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.