Photo: DiscoA340 · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Kure Beach commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
There are 335 jobs in Kure Beach, against 738 working residents. The two grades for Kure Beach are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 37% of workers, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Kure Beach apart
Kure Beach and Wilmington trade workers both ways
Wilmington is the top workplace for Kure Beach residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Kure Beach come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Kure Beach works from home
37% of Kure Beach workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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; with 738 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Kure Beach
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kure Beach is better than 80% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Kure Beach’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kure Beach could be anywhere from B to A.
30% of working residents work in Wilmington
Where Kure Beach clocks in
30% of workers
8% 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.
About 31 minutes each way for Kure Beach’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kure Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 763 commuters (the 37% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Kure Beach
About 32% 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.
How many people are in Kure Beach by day
On a workday 684 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 281 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Kure Beach on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Kure Beach
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kure Beach, 2013 → 2023: 294 → 335. 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 Kure Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kure Beach is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kure Beach is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 21.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,211 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 1.4% of Kure Beach households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kure Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
731st of 5,404: where Kure Beach ranks among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 729 | Goose Creek Village VA | 2,461 | $199K | 13.7% | 3.3% | 1% | A− |
| 730 | Morrison WI | 1,706 | $101K | 7.1% | 0.7% | 3% | A− |
| 731 | Kure Beach NC | 2,145 | $104K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 7% | A− |
| 732 | Salem Township OH | 2,112 | $88K | 4.7% | 1.5% | <1% | A− |
| 733 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Kure Beach, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Next door to Kure Beach
The biggest share goes to Carolina Beach (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kure Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kure Beach | – | A− | A− | 31 min | $104,149 |
| Carolina Beach | 8% | B− | A | 22 min | $94,398 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kure 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 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 Kure Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Kure Beach?
$104,149 (±$17,140) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kure Beach?
3.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kure Beach?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kure Beach work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (30%, 15 mi), Carolina Beach (8%, 3 mi), Myrtle Grove (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kure Beach walkable?
Kure Beach is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kure Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kure Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kure Beach
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.