Photo: Chris Currivan · CC BY-SA 3.0Sunset Beach has lower unemployment (0.7%) than 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Sunset Beach B+; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 7% work in Sunset Beach; the top destination outside it is Wilmington (8%, 42 miles). The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average, where North Carolina has 25 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sunset Beach and work: the main findings
Sunset Beach’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sunset Beach is Wilmington, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (108) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Many jobs in Sunset Beach pay little
32% of the jobs based in Sunset Beach pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Sunset Beach’s workforce skews older
41% of Sunset Beach’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Sunset Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
Inside Sunset Beach’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sunset Beach is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #83 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Sunset Beach’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% 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, Sunset Beach could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Sunset Beach’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
Jobs in Sunset Beach: what the 834 are
834 jobs are based in Sunset Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunset Beach, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 834. 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 Sunset Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Sunset Beach: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunset Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,040 commuters (the 22% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Sunset Beach
On a workday 1,186 residents head out to work, 87 work right here, and 747 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.
0.66 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Out of Sunset Beach to work: where people go
Where Sunset Beach clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Driving is how Sunset Beach gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sunset Beach is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #132 of 290 in North Carolina. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,336 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 under 0.1 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). 1.1% of Sunset Beach households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sunset Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sunset Beach is 1,424th among 4,009 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,300
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 292 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,422 | Perry Township OH | 5,908 | $76K | 12.6% | 2.0% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,423 | Olympia Fields IL | 4,593 | $124K | 13.7% | 5.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,424 | Sunset Beach NC | 4,642 | $82K | 5.7% | 0.7% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,425 | Bridgeport PA | 5,758 | $83K | 18.2% | 3.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,426 | Erda UT | 4,056 | $149K | 3.9% | 10.5% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,009 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Sunset Beach, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Around Sunset Beach: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Calabash (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sunset Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Beach | – | B+ | B− | 20 min | $81,976 |
| Calabash | 6% | C− | C | 18 min | $65,310 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sunset Beach’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 Sunset Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Sunset Beach?
$81,976 (±$14,932) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunset Beach?
5.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunset Beach?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunset Beach work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (8%, 42 mi), Shallotte (7%, 10 mi), Calabash (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sunset Beach walkable?
Sunset Beach is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sunset Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sunset Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunset Beach
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.