Scotland Neck Historic District · Photo: Indy beetle · CC0Households in Scotland Neck earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 44.8% of residents, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. For jobs and income Scotland Neck is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Scotland Neck, in brief
Scotland Neck workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 Scotland Neck than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Scotland Neck fell from 689 in 2014 to 470 in 2024, −32%. 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; with 556 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Scotland Neck gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Scotland Neck is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Scotland Neck’s grade.
Unemployment (14.5%) is left out: Scotland Neck’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Scotland Neck stays D−.
Commuting from Scotland Neck: about 38 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scotland Neck workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 452 commuters (the 9% 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 it is to work from Scotland Neck
About 31% 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.
What the 470 jobs in Scotland Neck are
470 jobs are based in Scotland Neck.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scotland Neck, 2014 → 2024: 689 → 470. 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 Scotland Neck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 489 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 403 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 (0.85 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.
7% of working residents work in Rocky Mount
Where Scotland Neck clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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.
Few in Scotland Neck walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 497 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). 9.1% of Scotland Neck households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Scotland Neck’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Scotland Neck sits among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Biltmore Forest NC | 1,469 | $169K | 2.0% | 2.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,768 | Zwolle LA | 1,605 | $28K | 42.0% | 9.7% | 10% | D− |
| 5,769 | Piedmont MO | 1,862 | $40K | 49.0% | 8.2% | 20% | D− |
| 5,770 | Scotland Neck NC | 1,586 | $19K | 44.8% | 14.5% | 12% | D− |
| 5,771 | Wetumka OK | 1,133 | $27K | 33.9% | 5.5% | 18% | D− |
| 5,772 | Ridgely TN | 1,616 | $24K | 43.6% | 8.0% | 7% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Scotland Neck, 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 Scotland Neck: questions
What is the median household income in Scotland Neck?
$19,083 (±$9,024) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scotland Neck?
44.8%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scotland Neck?
38 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scotland Neck work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rocky Mount (7%, 24 mi), Tarboro (6%, 17 mi), Raleigh (4%, 71 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Scotland Neck walkable?
Scotland Neck is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scotland Neck without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Scotland Neck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scotland Neck
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.