Photo: Fogleew · CC BY-SA 4.0Four Oaks has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C−: better than 22% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #215 of 290 in North Carolina.
Walkability C: more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns · #195 of 290 in North Carolina.
Household incomes here are lower than in 54% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 44 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Four Oaks; the top destination outside it is Raleigh (17%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Four Oaks
Four Oaks workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 146 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Four Oaks’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Four Oaks is Raleigh, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (163) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Many jobs in Four Oaks pay little
26% of the jobs based in Four Oaks pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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; with 964 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Four Oaks’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Four Oaks is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #215 of 290 in North Carolina. Household income holds Four Oaks’ grade up ($72,826, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Four Oaks could be anywhere from D to B+.
About 44 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Four Oaks workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,133 commuters (the 6% 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.
Half of Four Oaks commutes less than 27 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 18% 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.
What the 582 jobs in Four Oaks are
582 jobs are based in Four Oaks. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Four Oaks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Four Oaks, 2013 → 2023: 657 → 582. 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.
Four Oaks quiets down on a workday
On a workday 932 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 550 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Four Oaks on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
17% of working residents work in Raleigh
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Four Oaks clocks in
17% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Most trips from Four Oaks start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Four Oaks is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #195 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% 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 1,209 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). 4.4% of Four Oaks households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Four Oaks’ commuters take a bus or train.
Four Oaks is 3,552nd of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Four Oaks, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,550 | Ely MN | 3,231 | $44K | 13.9% | 2.5% | 45% | C− |
| 3,551 | Broken Bow NE | 3,507 | $60K | 8.8% | 5.9% | 61% | C− |
| 3,552 | Four Oaks NC | 2,978 | $73K | 15.3% | 8.3% | 3% | C− |
| 3,553 | Junction TX | 2,513 | $49K | 15.7% | 2.1% | 44% | C− |
| 3,554 | Otter Creek Township IL | 2,623 | $84K | 25.1% | 6.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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.
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 Four Oaks: questions
What is the median household income in Four Oaks?
$72,826 (±$17,195) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Four Oaks?
15.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Four Oaks?
44 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Four Oaks work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (17%, 29 mi), Smithfield (13%, 6 mi), Charlotte (3%, 137 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Four Oaks walkable?
Four Oaks is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Four Oaks 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 Four Oaks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Four Oaks
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.