Mount Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church · Photo: Cecouchman · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in James City (2.5%) is lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, James City is behind 76% of U.S. towns. James City grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. For 8% of workers, the job is at home (North Carolina 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in James City, in a few figures
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in James City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, James City is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #152 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds James City’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($58,973, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, James City could be anywhere from C− to B+.
33% of working residents work in New Bern
Where James City clocks in
33% 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.
James City on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,880 residents head out to work, 197 work right here, and 2,355 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in James City on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 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.
What the 2,552 jobs in James City are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in James City, 2013 → 2023: 2,533 → 2,552. 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 James City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from James City: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of James City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,937 commuters (the 8% 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.
The distance from James City to work
About 25% 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.
Getting around James City: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, James City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #117 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place James City 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 2,115 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). 2.0% of James City households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of James City’s commuters take a bus or train.
James City places 2,304th of 3,753 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 290 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,302 | Jenkins Township PA | 4,552 | $55K | 8.5% | 5.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,303 | Iroquois Point HI | 5,158 | $110K | 14.9% | 12.7% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,304 | James City NC | 4,789 | $59K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,305 | Forest City IA | 4,143 | $69K | 12.4% | 2.7% | 48% | C+ |
| 2,306 | Lapeer Township MI | 4,996 | $70K | 9.9% | 5.5% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | 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 James City, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
33% of James City works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | James City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James City | – | C+ | B− | 22 min | $58,973 |
| New Bern | 33% | C | B | 19 min | $61,031 |
| Brices Creek | under 2% | A− | D | 21 min | $85,723 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to New Bern. Darker towns draw more of James City’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 James City: questions
What is the median household income in James City?
$58,973 (±$12,893) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in James City?
11.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from James City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in James City work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Bern (33%, 5 mi), Havelock (5%, 11 mi), Raleigh (4%, 107 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is James City walkable?
James City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around James City without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from James City, from the people who make the trip.
More of James City
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.