Northwest has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 119 jobs in Northwest, and 340 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Northwest C−; getting around on foot earns it D−. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Northwest stands out on work
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Northwest
On income, poverty and job access, Northwest is better than 15% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Northwest’s grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($53,214, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (10.3%) is left out: Northwest’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Northwest could be anywhere from D to B.
35% of working residents work in Wilmington
Where Northwest clocks in
35% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Northwest
On a workday 336 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 115 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Northwest on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 46% of the jobs in Northwest
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northwest, 2013 → 2023: 191 → 119. 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 Northwest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Northwest: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northwest workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 327 commuters (the 14% 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.
How far Northwest goes to work
About 20% 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.
Most of Northwest commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Northwest is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Northwest near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 382 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.5% of Northwest households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Northwest’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Northwest is 2,774th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Advance NC | 1,408 | $115K | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,772 | Bainbridge NY | 1,248 | $58K | 11.4% | 5.9% | 8% | C− |
| 2,773 | Salt Lick Township OH | 1,083 | $56K | 11.7% | 6.3% | 3% | C− |
| 2,774 | Northwest NC | 1,096 | $53K | 19.1% | 10.3% | 1% | C− |
| 2,775 | Raymond Township IL | 1,103 | $64K | 21.5% | 2.0% | 15% | C− |
| 2,776 | Malaga Township OH | 1,016 | $65K | 12.1% | 12.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Northwest, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Northwest and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northwest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest | – | C− | D− | 21 min | $53,214 |
| Sandy Creek | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sandy Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Northwest’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 Northwest: questions
What is the median household income in Northwest?
$53,214 (±$18,674) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northwest?
19.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northwest?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northwest work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (35%, 17 mi), Leland (4%, 12 mi), Shallotte (2%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Northwest walkable?
Northwest is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northwest without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Northwest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northwest
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.