Work, pay and getting to work in Middlesex
9% of workers work from home (North Carolina 16%). Only 4% work in Middlesex; the top destination outside it is Raleigh (12%, 25 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 28 minutes, next to 25 for North Carolina and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Middlesex stands out on work
Middlesex’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Middlesex is Raleigh, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (33) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Middlesex makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Middlesex are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Middlesex residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. 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 282 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The distance from Middlesex to work
About 19% 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.
A place that makes things: 52% of Middlesex’s jobs are in goods
435 jobs are based in Middlesex.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middlesex, 2013 → 2023: 365 → 435. 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 Middlesex’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Middlesex on a workday
On a workday 270 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 423 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Middlesex on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
1.5 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.
The towns that send workers to Middlesex
Where Middlesex clocks in
12% of workers
9% 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.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Middlesex
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middlesex workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 354 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.
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 Middlesex: questions
What is the median household income in Middlesex?
$48,281 (±$12,200) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middlesex?
12.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middlesex?
28 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 Middlesex work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (12%, 25 mi), Wilson (9%, 16 mi), Zebulon (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Middlesex without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Middlesex, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middlesex
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.