Photo: Gerry Dincher from Hope Mills, NC · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Laurinburg have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Laurinburg is better than 4% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). The poverty rate is 31.1%; North Carolina has 13.0%. About one in five work in Laurinburg itself; outside it, Fayetteville draws the most (4%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Laurinburg apart
No single place dominates Laurinburg’s commute
The biggest draw, Fayetteville, gets only 4% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Laurinburg residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Laurinburg draws workers from far and wide
The 6,657 jobs in Laurinburg are filled from a wide area. Laurinburg’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Laurinburg are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Laurinburg’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Laurinburg’s grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Laurinburg could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where Laurinburg goes to work
Where Laurinburg clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Laurinburg’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laurinburg workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,762 commuters (the 9% 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 Laurinburg to work
About 34% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Laurinburg fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,070 residents head out to work, 1,121 work right here, and 5,536 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Laurinburg on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Laurinburg: 6,657 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laurinburg, 2014 → 2024: 7,203 → 6,657. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laurinburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Laurinburg is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 5,250 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). 15.5% of Laurinburg households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Laurinburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Laurinburg next to U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 226 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 267 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,347 | Sweet Home OR | 10,308 | $57K | 19.4% | 10.6% | 17% | D− |
| 2,348 | Avenal CA | 13,479 | $55K | 19.2% | 12.7% | 15% | D− |
| 2,349 | Laurinburg NC | 14,582 | $42K | 31.1% | 11.0% | 22% | D− |
| 2,350 | Avon Park FL | 10,514 | $36K | 23.3% | 9.2% | 11% | D− |
| 2,351 | Palatka FL | 10,872 | $32K | 37.3% | 9.3% | 22% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 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 Laurinburg, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Laurinburg: questions
What is the median household income in Laurinburg?
$42,170 (±$4,423) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laurinburg?
31.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laurinburg?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laurinburg work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (4%, 36 mi), Charlotte (4%, 83 mi), Raleigh (3%, 88 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Laurinburg walkable?
Laurinburg is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laurinburg without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laurinburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laurinburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.