With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Oak City works elsewhere
Employers in Oak City report 14 jobs for 94 working residents. Hardly any work in Oak City; the top destination outside it is Greenville (10%, 26 miles). Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Oak City by day and by night
On a workday 94 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 14 people come in from elsewhere.
About 190 people are in Oak City on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
The places Oak City commutes to
Where Oak City clocks in
10% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Oak City: what the 14 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak City, 2013 → 2023: 231 → 14. 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 Oak City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 37 minutes from Oak City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak City workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 179 commuters (the 8% 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 Oak City goes to work
About 34% 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.
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 Oak City: questions
What is the median household income in Oak City?
$61,091 (±$1,488) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak City?
5.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak City?
37 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak City work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (10%, 26 mi), Williamston (7%, 16 mi), Hamilton (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oak City 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 Oak City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak 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.