Photo: User: (WT-shared) Haem85 at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 3.0Swansboro has 1.6 jobs for every working resident: 1,969 people commute in to work
Jobs & income B−: better than 55% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #115 of 290 in North Carolina.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns · #20 of 290 in North Carolina.
Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 23 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Swansboro; the top destination outside it is Jacksonville (17%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Swansboro, in brief
Swansboro has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Swansboro went from 1,090 in 2013 to 2,131 in 2023, +96%. The jobs ↓
Swansboro is where the jobs are
Swansboro has 2,131 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
36% of the jobs based in Swansboro are held by workers 29 or younger, against 24% of Swansboro’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Swansboro
51% of Swansboro residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 31% of the jobs based in Swansboro pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 Swansboro’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Swansboro is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #115 of 290 in North Carolina. Household income holds Swansboro’s grade up ($114,425, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Swansboro could be anywhere from C− to A.
What the 2,131 jobs in Swansboro are
2,131 jobs are based in Swansboro. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Swansboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swansboro, 2013 → 2023: 1,090 → 2,131. 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.
Swansboro fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,171 residents head out to work, 162 work right here, and 1,969 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Swansboro on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Half of Swansboro commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 35% 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 Swansboro’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Swansboro clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of North Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swansboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,674 commuters (the 19% 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.
Swansboro 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, Swansboro is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #20 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Swansboro 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 2,055 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). 1.5% of Swansboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Swansboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Swansboro is 1,920th of 4,112 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Swansboro, 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 188 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 285 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,918 | Brooktrails CA | 4,398 | $116K | 5.4% | 4.6% | 2% | B− |
| 1,919 | Hebron IN | 3,775 | $74K | 6.3% | 5.8% | 5% | B− |
| 1,920 | Swansboro NC | 4,174 | $114K | 14.1% | 2.7% | 12% | B− |
| 1,921 | Granite Shoals TX | 5,498 | $78K | 2.4% | 4.3% | 3% | B− |
| 1,922 | Lexington Township OH | 4,944 | $65K | 13.8% | 2.1% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | 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 Swansboro: questions
What is the median household income in Swansboro?
$114,425 (±$16,335) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swansboro?
14.1%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swansboro?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swansboro work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jacksonville (17%, 15 mi), Emerald Isle (5%, 6 mi), Raleigh (4%, 116 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Swansboro walkable?
Swansboro is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Swansboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swansboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swansboro
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.