Photo: gerrydincher · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes put Whiteville near the very bottom of U.S. towns
20.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. Measured by household income, Whiteville is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Whiteville grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Whiteville: the gist
Whiteville has far more jobs than workers
Whiteville has 6,250 jobs, 3.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,100 people are in town, 91% more than the 4,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Whiteville draws workers from far and wide
The 6,250 jobs in Whiteville are filled from a wide area. Whiteville’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 79% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Few Whiteville workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Whiteville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Whiteville is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #236 of 290 in North Carolina. Unemployment holds Whiteville’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($31,167, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Whiteville could be anywhere from D to C+.
In and out of Whiteville on a workday
On a workday 1,400 residents head out to work, 513 work right here, and 5,737 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,100 people are in Whiteville on a workday afternoon, 91% more than live here.
3.3 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.
Where the people who work in Whiteville live
Where Whiteville 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.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Whiteville: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whiteville workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,770 commuters (the 4% 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 work there is in Whiteville: 6,250 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whiteville, 2013 → 2023: 6,623 → 6,250. 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 Whiteville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Whiteville works
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.
Whiteville 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, Whiteville is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #29 of 290 in North Carolina. Both inputs place Whiteville 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 1,840 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). 14.2% of Whiteville households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Whiteville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Whiteville is 3,239th of 3,867 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Jamestown NC | 3,803 | $105K | 2.5% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Fairview NC | 3,805 | $99K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,237 | Harbour Heights FL | 4,289 | $65K | 14.2% | 16.4% | 3% | C− |
| 3,238 | Winchester IN | 4,817 | $52K | 18.3% | 5.0% | 29% | C− |
| 3,239 | Whiteville NC | 4,765 | $31K | 20.7% | 3.2% | 27% | C− |
| 3,240 | Winnsboro SC | 3,305 | $37K | 12.8% | 7.7% | 11% | C− |
| 3,241 | Perry Township IN | 5,067 | $65K | 22.0% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Whiteville, 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 Whiteville: questions
What is the median household income in Whiteville?
$31,167 (±$10,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whiteville?
20.7%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whiteville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whiteville work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (5%, 47 mi), Fayetteville (4%, 54 mi), Lumberton (3%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whiteville walkable?
Whiteville is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whiteville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whiteville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whiteville
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.