Latham House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Plymouth are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 2% of workers, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%. 29.9% of residents live below the poverty line (North Carolina 13.0%). The two grades for Plymouth are D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Plymouth: the gist
Plymouth trades workers with the towns around it
Plymouth has about as many jobs (1,252) as working residents (1,049), but they are mostly different people: 842 residents leave for work each day while 1,045 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Plymouth are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Plymouth workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Plymouth workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Plymouth’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 22% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Plymouth than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Plymouth fell from 1,719 in 2014 to 1,252 in 2024, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Plymouth
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Plymouth is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #290 of 290 in North Carolina. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Plymouth’s grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plymouth stays D−.
How a workday changes Plymouth
On a workday 842 residents head out to work, 207 work right here, and 1,045 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 (1.19 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting from Plymouth: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plymouth workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 787 commuters (the 2% 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 work there is in Plymouth: 1,252 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plymouth, 2014 → 2024: 1,719 → 1,252. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Plymouth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Plymouth commutes
About 35% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Where Plymouth goes to work
Where Plymouth clocks in
4% of workers
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.
Driving is how Plymouth gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plymouth is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #123 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Plymouth 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 803 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). 16.7% of Plymouth households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Plymouth’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Plymouth sits among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 170 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,686 | Mills Township MI | 4,054 | $42K | 30.5% | 12.1% | 4% | D− |
| 4,687 | Cuthbert GA | 3,026 | $22K | 37.3% | 10.6% | 19% | D− |
| 4,688 | Plymouth NC | 3,170 | $35K | 29.9% | 26.4% | 20% | D− |
| 4,689 | Presidio TX | 2,909 | $41K | 38.9% | 10.2% | 14% | D− |
| 4,690 | Hawaiian Beaches HI | 3,947 | $29K | 40.4% | 8.8% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Plymouth, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Plymouth: questions
What is the median household income in Plymouth?
$34,521 (±$7,287) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plymouth?
29.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plymouth?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plymouth work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (4%, 40 mi), Raleigh (3%, 106 mi), Elizabeth City (3%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Plymouth walkable?
Plymouth is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plymouth without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plymouth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plymouth
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.