Photo: Gerry Dincher from Hope Mills, NC · CC BY-SA 2.0Southern Pines has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 9,108 people commute in to work
Employers in Southern Pines report 10,191 jobs, and 5,341 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Southern Pines are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in five work in Southern Pines; the top destination outside it is Pinehurst (15%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Southern Pines apart
Southern Pines is where the jobs are
Southern Pines has 10,191 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Southern Pines draws workers from far and wide
The 10,191 jobs in Southern Pines are filled from a wide area. Southern Pines’ own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 ↓
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 Southern Pines earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Southern Pines is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #143 of 290 in North Carolina. Household income holds Southern Pines’ grade up ($88,535, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Southern Pines could be anywhere from C to B+.
Who commutes out of Southern Pines, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,258 residents head out to work and 1,083 work right here.
About 22,000 people are in Southern Pines on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Southern Pines’s workers come from
Where Southern Pines clocks in
15% of workers
5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Southern Pines
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 Southern Pines’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southern Pines, 2014 → 2024: 8,215 → 10,191. 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 Southern Pines’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Southern Pines: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southern Pines workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,237 commuters (the 14% 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.
Driving is how Southern Pines gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southern Pines is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #102 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 7,283 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). 7.8% of Southern Pines households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Southern Pines’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Southern Pines is 1,360th among 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Wendell NC | 19,687 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,358 | Cimarron Hills CO | 19,817 | $81K | 10.6% | 7.0% | 4% | B− |
| 1,359 | Truckee CA | 17,278 | $130K | 9.0% | 6.6% | 40% | B− |
| 1,360 | Southern Pines NC | 17,357 | $89K | 9.6% | 6.7% | 20% | B− |
| 1,361 | Piqua OH | 21,064 | $68K | 17.6% | 3.7% | 21% | B− |
| 1,362 | Kilgore TX | 13,531 | $66K | 17.4% | 3.3% | 21% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Southern Pines, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
21% of Southern Pines works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Southern Pines workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Pines | – | B− | B− | 23 min | $88,535 |
| Aberdeen | 4% | B− | B | 27 min | $75,078 |
| Carthage | 2% | B− | B− | 27 min | $82,695 |
| Pinehurst | 15% | B+ | C | 24 min | $109,802 |
| Whispering Pines | under 2% | A− | C− | 29 min | $126,450 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pinehurst. Darker towns draw more of Southern Pines’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 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 Southern Pines: questions
What is the median household income in Southern Pines?
$88,535 (±$12,182) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southern Pines?
9.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southern Pines?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southern Pines work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pinehurst (15%, 4 mi), Fayetteville (5%, 26 mi), Aberdeen (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Southern Pines walkable?
Southern Pines is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southern Pines without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southern Pines, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southern Pines
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.