Coolmore Plantation · Photo: Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer · Public domainHousehold incomes in Tarboro trail those of 88% of U.S. towns
Tarboro grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. The poverty rate is 18.5%; North Carolina has 13.0%. About one in four stay in Tarboro for work; outside it, Rocky Mount is the main destination (13%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Tarboro apart
Tarboro is where the jobs are
Tarboro has 6,772 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Tarboro draws workers from far and wide
The 6,772 jobs in Tarboro are filled from a wide area. Tarboro’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Tarboro gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tarboro is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #215 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Tarboro’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,796, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tarboro could be anywhere from D to B−.
Tarboro fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,243 residents head out to work, 1,224 work right here, and 5,548 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Tarboro on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The towns that send workers to Tarboro
Where Tarboro clocks in
13% of workers
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.
Factories, building and farms: 30% of the jobs in Tarboro
6,772 jobs are based in Tarboro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tarboro, 2013 → 2023: 7,799 → 6,772. 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 Tarboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Tarboro: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tarboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,892 commuters (the 11% 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.
Miles to work from Tarboro
About 29% 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.
In Tarboro, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tarboro is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #114 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 4,370 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). 11.9% of Tarboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tarboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Tarboro comes 2,120th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Weddington NC | 14,517 | $191K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 270 | Rolesville NC | 12,839 | $150K | 1.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,118 | Canton NY | 11,256 | $70K | 13.9% | 5.7% | 39% | C− |
| 2,119 | Westgate FL | 8,151 | $52K | 26.9% | 7.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,120 | Tarboro NC | 10,979 | $50K | 18.5% | 4.5% | 27% | C− |
| 2,121 | Tomah WI | 9,600 | $51K | 16.7% | 4.3% | 38% | C− |
| 2,122 | Canton Township PA | 8,269 | $61K | 19.7% | 8.3% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Tarboro, 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 Tarboro: questions
What is the median household income in Tarboro?
$49,796 (±$13,723) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tarboro?
18.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tarboro?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tarboro work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rocky Mount (13%, 15 mi), Greenville (8%, 24 mi), Raleigh (7%, 61 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tarboro walkable?
Tarboro is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tarboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tarboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tarboro
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.