Portsmouth Village · Photo: National Park Service · Public domainOcracoke at work: jobs, income and the commute
0% of workers have no commute at all, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. About one in five stay in Ocracoke for work; outside it, Engelhard is the main destination (4%, 30 miles). The trip to work takes 17 minutes on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ocracoke apart
A big share show a job far from home
51% 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 ↓
Few Ocracoke workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Ocracoke are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
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 277 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many miles Ocracoke commutes
About 51% 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 trip to work from Ocracoke: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ocracoke workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 331 commuters (the 0% 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.
Who leaves Ocracoke for work, and who comes in
On a workday 215 residents head out to work, 62 work right here, and 344 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Ocracoke on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
Where Ocracoke goes to work
Where Ocracoke clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
Ocracoke is a services town
406 jobs are based in Ocracoke.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ocracoke, 2013 → 2023: 270 → 406. 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 Ocracoke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Ocracoke: questions
What is the median household income in Ocracoke?
$77,583 (±$30,899) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ocracoke?
16.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ocracoke?
17 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ocracoke work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Engelhard (4%, 30 mi), Greenville (3%, 86 mi), Raleigh (3%, 158 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ocracoke without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ocracoke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ocracoke
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.