Photo: James Willamor · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Nags Head (1.0%) is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
2.4% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.0% for North Carolina as a whole. For jobs and income Nags Head is better than 78% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+). Measured by household income, Nags Head is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Nags Head stands out on work
Nags Head is where the jobs are
Nags Head has 3,198 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,000 people are in town, 60% more than the 3,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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.
Income, poverty and work: Nags Head’s grade explained
The poverty rate holds Nags Head’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% 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, Nags Head could be anywhere from B to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Nags Head
On a workday 955 residents head out to work, 358 work right here, and 2,840 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Nags Head on a workday afternoon, 60% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Nags Head
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.
The towns that send workers to Nags Head
Where Nags Head clocks in
11% 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.
What Nags Head’s employers do
3,198 jobs are based in Nags Head.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nags Head, 2013 → 2023: 2,910 → 3,198. 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 Nags Head’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Nags Head: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nags Head workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,410 commuters (the 11% 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.
Getting around Nags Head: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,583 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). 1.3% of Nags Head households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Nags Head’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Nags Head ranks: 885th of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 883 | Montgomery Township IL | 2,465 | $102K | 9.6% | 2.0% | 14% | A− |
| 884 | Morton Township KS | 2,819 | $84K | 6.4% | 1.5% | 17% | A− |
| 885 | Nags Head NC | 3,117 | $91K | 2.4% | 1.0% | 27% | A− |
| 886 | Ingersoll Township MI | 2,622 | $99K | 4.7% | 3.1% | 1% | A− |
| 887 | Grantham NH | 3,482 | $106K | 0.0% | 2.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Nags Head, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Nags Head’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nags Head workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nags Head | – | A− | C+ | 23 min | $91,264 |
| Kill Devil Hills | 11% | C | B+ | 21 min | $89,773 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kill Devil Hills. Darker towns draw more of Nags Head’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 Nags Head: questions
What is the median household income in Nags Head?
$91,264 (±$15,374) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nags Head?
2.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nags Head?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nags Head work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kill Devil Hills (11%, 6 mi), Manteo (8%, 4 mi), Kitty Hawk (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nags Head walkable?
Nags Head is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nags Head without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nags Head, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nags Head
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.