Photo: Tnewman39 · CC BY-SA 4.0Edenton’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in three stay in Edenton for work; outside it, Elizabeth City is the main destination (5%, 26 miles). 30.0% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole. For jobs and income Edenton is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Edenton
Edenton is where the jobs are
Edenton has 3,429 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Edenton
Unemployment holds Edenton’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($38,417, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Edenton could be anywhere from C− to C.
Edenton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,105 residents head out to work, 534 work right here, and 2,895 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Edenton on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.1 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.
Edenton’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
Commuting in to Edenton: where workers come from
Where Edenton clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
What Edenton’s employers do
3,429 jobs are based in Edenton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Edenton, 2013 → 2023: 2,915 → 3,429. 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 Edenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Edenton’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Edenton workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,553 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.
Edenton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,763 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). 18.5% of Edenton households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Edenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,100, Edenton ranks 3,072nd of 3,862 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 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 279 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,070 | Marlow Heights MD | 5,456 | $56K | 31.5% | 15.1% | 2% | C− |
| 3,071 | Arcadia SC | 3,426 | $55K | 21.3% | 7.9% | 1% | C− |
| 3,072 | Edenton NC | 4,546 | $38K | 30.0% | 0.0% | 33% | C− |
| 3,073 | Freeland PA | 3,811 | $58K | 24.0% | 5.2% | 4% | C− |
| 3,074 | Six Mile Township IL | 3,450 | $56K | 10.2% | 8.0% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,862 | 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 Edenton, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door to Edenton
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Edenton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edenton | – | C− | A− | 26 min | $38,417 |
| Cape Colony | under 2% | — | — | 15 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Cape Colony: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Edenton’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 Edenton: questions
What is the median household income in Edenton?
$38,417 (±$10,333) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Edenton?
30.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Edenton?
26 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 Edenton work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elizabeth City (5%, 26 mi), Greenville (3%, 54 mi), Raleigh (3%, 115 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Edenton walkable?
Edenton is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Edenton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Edenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Edenton
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.