Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Roxboro trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Roxboro D−; getting around on foot earns it A−. 33.3% of residents are in poverty (North Carolina 13.0%). Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where North Carolina as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Roxboro: the figures worth knowing
Roxboro draws workers from far and wide
The 5,794 jobs in Roxboro are filled from a wide area. Roxboro’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 80% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Roxboro is where the jobs are
Roxboro has 5,794 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Roxboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Roxboro is Durham, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (608) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Roxboro
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roxboro is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #287 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Roxboro’s grade up (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (13.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roxboro could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where the people who work in Roxboro live
Where Roxboro clocks in
19% of workers
4% 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.
Who leaves Roxboro for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,569 residents head out to work, 550 work right here, and 5,244 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Roxboro on a workday afternoon, 32% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The commute from Roxboro, by distance
About 25% 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 work there is in Roxboro: 5,794 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roxboro, 2013 → 2023: 6,300 → 5,794. 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 Roxboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Roxboro’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roxboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,883 commuters (the 7% 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.
In Roxboro, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roxboro is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #25 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Roxboro 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 3,093 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). 10.7% of Roxboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Roxboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Roxboro sits among U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 194 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 365 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 407 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,939 | Monticello AR | 8,269 | $27K | 30.1% | 9.6% | 46% | D− |
| 2,940 | Louisville MS | 5,921 | $37K | 39.3% | 10.3% | 39% | D− |
| 2,941 | Roxboro NC | 8,380 | $37K | 33.3% | 13.5% | 18% | D− |
| 2,942 | Atmore AL | 8,360 | $39K | 25.0% | 18.2% | 22% | D− |
| 2,943 | Firebaugh CA | 8,774 | $48K | 36.6% | 18.7% | 23% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Roxboro, 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 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 Roxboro: questions
What is the median household income in Roxboro?
$36,553 (±$6,082) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roxboro?
33.3%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roxboro?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roxboro work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durham (19%, 29 mi), Raleigh (4%, 43 mi), Charlotte (3%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roxboro walkable?
Roxboro is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roxboro without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roxboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roxboro
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.