Work & commute · Cary

Work & commute in Cary, NC

Most working residents leave Cary for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Raleigh (24%), Durham (13%) and Charlotte (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

15,084 of 81,411 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

37%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 66,327 Cary residents head out of town to work, 15,084 work right here, and 84,523 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cary.

66,327live here, work elsewhere

15,084live and work here

84,523work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cary goes to work

Raleigh10.8 mi away

24%19,535

Cary (in town)right here

19%15,084

Durham14.1 mi away

13%10,730

Charlotte119.6 mi away

5%3,938

Morrisville3.8 mi away

4%3,473

Chapel Hill15.7 mi away

3%2,367

Apex5 mi away

2%2,009

Greensboro59.9 mi away

1%953

Garner13.4 mi away

1%858

Holly Springs9.1 mi away

1%832

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%21,632

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

How far

How far Cary commutes

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

50%

32%

16%

50%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cary is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cary are

99,607 jobs are based in Cary. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cary’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cary

99,607 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Cary residents hold

81,411 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+35%

Jobs based in Cary, 2013 → 2023: 73,727 → 99,607. 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.