US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Assembly Building · Public domainMaking a living in Topsail Beach
32% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%. Working residents average 34 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). 145 jobs are based in Topsail Beach for 163 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Topsail Beach
On a workday 159 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 141 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
18% of working residents work in Surf City
Where Topsail Beach clocks in
18% of workers
8% 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.
What Topsail Beach’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Topsail Beach, 2013 → 2023: 169 → 145. 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 Topsail Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 34 minutes from Topsail Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Topsail Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 107 commuters (the 32% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Topsail Beach
About 40% 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.
Topsail Beach and its neighbors: 18% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Topsail Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topsail Beach | – | — | — | 34 min | $93,250 |
| Surf City | 18% | B | B | 23 min | $81,433 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Surf City. Darker towns draw more of Topsail 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 Topsail Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Topsail Beach?
$93,250 (±$35,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Topsail Beach?
7.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Topsail Beach?
34 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Topsail Beach work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Surf City (18%, 8 mi), Wilmington (8%, 17 mi), Hampstead (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Topsail Beach 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 Topsail Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Topsail 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.