St. Pauls has lower household incomes than 97% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 37.7% of residents, next to 13.0% across North Carolina. St. Pauls grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. For 8% of workers, the job is at home, next to 16% for North Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from St. Pauls
St. Pauls is where the jobs are
St. Pauls has 1,362 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of St. Pauls’ workers comes from Fayetteville
99 of the people who work in St. Pauls live in Fayetteville, 19 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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; with 653 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in St. Pauls: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, St. Pauls is better than 9% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds St. Pauls’ grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (8.8%) is left out: St. Pauls’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, St. Pauls stays D.
The workday shuffle in and out of St. Pauls
On a workday 606 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 1,315 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in St. Pauls on a workday afternoon, 34% more than live here.
2.1 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 daily trip into St. Pauls
Where St. Pauls clocks in
13% 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.
Half of St. Pauls commutes less than 16 miles
About 30% 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.
Inside St. Pauls’ 1,362 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Pauls, 2013 → 2023: 1,035 → 1,362. 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 St. Pauls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 24 minutes from St. Pauls
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Pauls workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 707 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.
Few in St. Pauls walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Pauls is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 765 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). 12.1% of St. Pauls households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Pauls’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, St. Pauls is 4,452nd of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 322 | Northlakes NC | 1,716 | $101K | 2.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,450 | Marionville MO | 2,108 | $50K | 21.0% | 9.7% | 6% | D |
| 4,451 | Clayton NY | 1,656 | $61K | 19.5% | 2.9% | 25% | D |
| 4,452 | St. Pauls NC | 2,109 | $37K | 37.7% | 8.8% | 7% | D |
| 4,453 | Elkland PA | 1,772 | $55K | 15.7% | 6.5% | 14% | D |
| 4,454 | Bridgeport WA | 2,274 | $52K | 11.9% | 2.9% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 St. Pauls, 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 St. Pauls: questions
What is the median household income in St. Pauls?
$36,800 (±$10,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Pauls?
37.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Pauls?
24 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 St. Pauls work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lumberton (15%, 13 mi), Fayetteville (13%, 19 mi), Lumber Bridge (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Pauls walkable?
St. Pauls is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Pauls without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Pauls, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Pauls
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.