Photo: Cubby61 · Public domainWhite Lake has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes, where North Carolina has 25 and the U.S. 26. Employers in White Lake report 97 jobs for 325 working residents. Only 2% work in White Lake itself; outside it, Elizabethtown draws the most (12%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in White Lake: the gist
White Lake is a place people come home to
There are 97 jobs based in White Lake, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday White Lake has about 620 people in it, 27% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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; with 325 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
A workday in White Lake: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 320 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 92 people come in from elsewhere.
About 620 people are in White Lake on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
How far White Lake’s workers travel
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.
Where the trip to work from White Lake ends
Where White Lake clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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 White Lake
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in White Lake, 2013 → 2023: 165 → 97. 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 White Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for White Lake’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of White Lake workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 393 commuters (the 13% 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.
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 White Lake: questions
What is the median household income in White Lake?
$84,375 (±$9,099) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in White Lake?
5.9%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from White Lake?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in White Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elizabethtown (12%, 7 mi), Wilmington (10%, 46 mi), Fayetteville (6%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around White Lake 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 White Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of White Lake
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.