Watha has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
31% of workers have no commute at all; North Carolina has 16%. There are 6 jobs in Watha; 72 of its residents have a job. Only 1% work in Watha itself; outside it, Wilmington draws the most (22%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Watha on a workday afternoon
On a workday 71 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 5 people come in from elsewhere.
About 160 people are in Watha on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Watha work
Where Watha clocks in
22% 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.
The kinds of work in Watha
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Watha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Watha takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watha workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 64 commuters (the 31% 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.
How many miles Watha commutes
About 31% 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.
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 Watha: questions
What is the median household income in Watha?
$48,125 (±$35,505) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watha?
16.6%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watha?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watha work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (22%, 31 mi), Burgaw (10%, 7 mi), Wallace (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Watha without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watha
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.