West Selma Historic District · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Selma are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 24.7% of residents (North Carolina 13.0%). Jobs and income earn Selma C−; getting around on foot earns it C+. For 8% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across North Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Selma, in brief
Stores, warehouses and trucking
51% of the jobs in Selma are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Selma’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Selma is Raleigh, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (321) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Selma workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Selma workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Selma’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
Selma’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Selma is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #233 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Selma’s grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,368, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Selma could be anywhere from D to B−.
The 2,920 jobs based in Selma
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Selma, 2013 → 2023: 2,560 → 2,920. 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 Selma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Selma goes to work
About 20% 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.
From Selma, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Selma workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,887 commuters (the 8% 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 commutes out of Selma, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,153 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 2,811 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 (1.29 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.
14% of working residents work in Raleigh
Where Selma clocks in
14% 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.
In Selma, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Selma is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #172 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,153 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). 15.3% of Selma households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Selma’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Selma ranks: 2,651st of 3,083 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Oak Ridge NC | 7,896 | $155K | 3.6% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Ogden NC | 8,249 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Stokesdale NC | 6,133 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,649 | Jan Phyl Village FL | 5,708 | $54K | 27.0% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,650 | Portland IN | 6,237 | $52K | 17.3% | 5.0% | 36% | C− |
| 2,651 | Selma NC | 7,406 | $41K | 24.7% | 4.9% | 5% | C− |
| 2,652 | Coal Township PA | 9,721 | $51K | 14.1% | 6.0% | 10% | C− |
| 2,653 | Jonesboro GA | 6,046 | $51K | 35.3% | 10.8% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | 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 Selma, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 14% of Selma’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Selma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selma | – | C− | C+ | 32 min | $41,368 |
| Smithfield | 14% | D | B+ | 24 min | $43,270 |
| Pine Level | under 2% | B− | C | 21 min | $75,263 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Smithfield. Darker towns draw more of Selma’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 Selma: questions
What is the median household income in Selma?
$41,368 (±$20,746) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Selma?
24.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Selma?
32 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Selma work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (14%, 28 mi), Smithfield (14%, 4 mi), Garner (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Selma walkable?
Selma is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Selma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Selma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Selma
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.