Chapel of the Good Shepherd · Photo: Hrhiles · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and the daily commute in Norlina
A typical one-way commute from Norlina lasts 32 minutes (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Norlina; the top destination outside it is Raleigh (10%, 49 miles). 326 jobs are based in Norlina; 305 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Norlina apart
Norlina’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Norlina is Raleigh, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (31) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Norlina makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Norlina are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Norlina residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
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 305 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The commute from Norlina, by distance
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.
49% of the jobs in Norlina make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norlina, 2013 → 2023: 199 → 326. 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 Norlina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Norlina
On a workday 285 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 306 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).
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 places Norlina commutes to
Where Norlina clocks in
10% of workers
9% 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.
Each way, about 32 minutes from Norlina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norlina workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 313 commuters (the 18% 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 Norlina: questions
What is the median household income in Norlina?
$27,143 (±$12,664) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norlina?
25.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norlina?
32 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norlina work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (10%, 49 mi), Henderson (9%, 15 mi), Warrenton (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Norlina without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norlina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norlina
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.