Photo: Bz3rk · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.4 jobs in Morehead City for every working resident, and 7,732 people commute in
There are 8,845 jobs in Morehead City, against 3,643 working residents. For jobs and income Morehead City is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (B). Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Morehead City apart
Morehead City is where the jobs are
Morehead City has 8,845 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 50% more than the 10,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Morehead City draws workers from far and wide
The 8,845 jobs in Morehead City are filled from a wide area. Morehead City’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 22%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Morehead City are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Morehead City’s workers comes from Havelock
491 of the people who work in Morehead City live in Havelock, 16 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Morehead City’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Morehead City’s grade up (2.0%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morehead City could be anywhere from C− to C+.
How a workday changes Morehead City
On a workday 2,530 residents head out to work and 1,113 work right here.
About 16,000 people are in Morehead City on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
2.4 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.
Where the people who work in Morehead City live
Where Morehead City clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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.
About 18 minutes each way for Morehead City’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morehead City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,117 commuters (the 12% 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 Morehead City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morehead City, 2013 → 2023: 8,591 → 8,845. 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 Morehead City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Morehead City, by distance
About 31% 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.
In Morehead City, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 4,684 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). 10.5% of Morehead City households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Morehead City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Morehead City ranks: 2,160th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 368 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,158 | South Daytona FL | 13,894 | $57K | 16.9% | 4.8% | 6% | C |
| 2,159 | Corning NY | 10,514 | $62K | 11.7% | 5.8% | 28% | C |
| 2,160 | Morehead City NC | 10,434 | $56K | 18.1% | 2.0% | 31% | C |
| 2,161 | Laurens SC | 9,327 | $49K | 25.4% | 1.9% | 13% | C |
| 2,162 | Green Cove Springs FL | 10,079 | $75K | 12.7% | 6.4% | 15% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Morehead City, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work in the towns next to Morehead City
The biggest share goes to Beaufort (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morehead City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morehead City | – | C | B | 18 min | $56,233 |
| Brandywine Bay | under 2% | A− | C | 48 min | $105,000 |
| Beaufort | 7% | C− | B | 20 min | $53,321 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morehead 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 Morehead City: questions
What is the median household income in Morehead City?
$56,233 (±$3,697) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morehead City?
18.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morehead City?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morehead City work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaufort (7%, 5 mi), Atlantic Beach (4%, 2 mi), Raleigh (4%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morehead City walkable?
Morehead City is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morehead City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morehead City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morehead 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.