Photo: DiscoA340 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Southport (0.0%) is among the lowest in the country
Jobs & income B+: better than 72% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #69 of 290 in North Carolina.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns · #22 of 290 in North Carolina.
Household incomes here are higher than in 65% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 24 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Southport; the top destination outside it is Wilmington (12%, 20 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 0.0 in Wilmington (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Southport, in brief
Southport is where the jobs are
Southport has 2,497 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Southport has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Southport went from 1,732 in 2013 to 2,497 in 2023, +44%. The jobs ↓
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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Southport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Southport is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #69 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Southport’s grade up (0.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% 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, Southport could be anywhere from B to A−.
Southport fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,368 residents head out to work, 249 work right here, and 2,248 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in Southport on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.5 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.
What the 2,497 jobs in Southport are
2,497 jobs are based in Southport. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Southport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southport, 2013 → 2023: 1,732 → 2,497. 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.
Half of Southport commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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 2023.
Where Southport’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Southport clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 24 minutes each way, about the NC average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southport workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,181 commuters (the 21% 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.
Southport is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southport is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #22 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Southport 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 1,501 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 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.6% of Southport households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Southport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Southport is 1,179th of 4,000 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Southport, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 292 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,177 | Pinehurst TX | 4,266 | $62K | 6.0% | 3.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,178 | Quantico Base VA | 5,840 | $73K | 7.0% | 5.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,179 | Southport NC | 4,434 | $88K | 6.4% | 0.0% | 15% | B+ |
| 1,180 | Chisago City MN | 5,955 | $102K | 3.4% | 7.5% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,181 | Moro Township IL | 3,492 | $100K | 4.0% | 5.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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.
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 Southport: questions
What is the median household income in Southport?
$87,641 (±$13,080) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southport?
6.4%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southport?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southport work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (12%, 20 mi), Oak Island (6%, 9 mi), Raleigh (4%, 136 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Southport walkable?
Southport is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southport without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southport
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.