Work & commute · Carrboro

Work & commute in Carrboro, NC

Most working residents leave Carrboro for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Chapel Hill (28%), Durham (17%) and Raleigh (10%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

625 of 9,294 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,669 Carrboro residents head out of town to work, 625 work right here, and 4,089 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carrboro.

8,669live here, work elsewhere

625live and work here

4,089work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carrboro goes to work

Chapel Hill2.6 mi away

28%2,613

Durham11.2 mi away

17%1,566

Raleigh25.8 mi away

10%933

Carrboro (in town)right here

7%625

Cary17.8 mi away

4%344

Charlotte109.8 mi away

3%250

Greensboro42.8 mi away

2%202

Morrisville15.2 mi away

1%136

Hillsborough10.5 mi away

1%130

Burlington23.7 mi away

1%89

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%2,406

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Carrboro commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

45%

29%

13%

45%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carrboro is a commuter town

0.51jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.51 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Carrboro are

4,714 jobs are based in Carrboro. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carrboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carrboro

4,714 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Carrboro residents hold

9,294 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+19%

Jobs based in Carrboro, 2013 → 2023: 3,959 → 4,714. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.