Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAlmost no one in Red Oak’s labor force is looking for work
Below the poverty line: 2.2% of residents (North Carolina 13.0%). The two grades for Red Oak are A for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Only 2% work in Red Oak itself; outside it, Rocky Mount draws the most (34%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Red Oak at work: what stands out
Red Oak is a place people come home to
There are 229 jobs based in Red Oak, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Red Oak has about 2,200 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Red Oak and Rocky Mount trade workers both ways
Rocky Mount is the top workplace for Red Oak residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Red Oak come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Red Oak’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Red Oak is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #26 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Red Oak’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Red Oak could be anywhere from A− to A.
Red Oak by day and by night
On a workday 1,555 residents head out to work, 30 work right here, and 199 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Red Oak on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.14 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 people from Red Oak work
Where Red Oak clocks in
34% of workers
7% 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.
What Red Oak’s employers do
229 jobs are based in Red Oak.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Red Oak, 2013 → 2023: 215 → 229. 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 Red Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Red Oak spends getting to work: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Red Oak workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,280 commuters (the 13% 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 many miles Red Oak commutes
About 18% 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.
Red Oak is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Red Oak is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns, #288 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Red Oak 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 1,470 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 0.0% of Red Oak households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Red Oak’s commuters take a bus or train.
Red Oak next to U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800: 461st of 4,355 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 459 | Troy Township OH | 2,798 | $87K | 4.0% | 1.1% | 6% | A |
| 460 | Mineral Springs NC | 3,514 | $92K | 4.2% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| 461 | Red Oak NC | 3,523 | $90K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| 462 | York Township OH | 4,357 | $98K | 5.5% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| 463 | Jackson Township OH | 3,993 | $94K | 3.4% | 1.0% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Red Oak, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Red Oak: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Dortches (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Red Oak’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 Red Oak: questions
What is the median household income in Red Oak?
$90,214 (±$11,866) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Red Oak?
2.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Red Oak?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Red Oak work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rocky Mount (34%, 8 mi), Raleigh (7%, 44 mi), Nashville (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Red Oak walkable?
Red Oak is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Red Oak without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Red Oak, from the people who make the trip.
More of Red Oak
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.