Work & commute · Chapel Hill

Work & commute in Chapel Hill, NC

About one in 4 of Chapel Hill’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Durham (20%), Raleigh (10%) and Charlotte (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27%

5,783 of 21,357 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

28%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,574 Chapel Hill residents head out of town to work, 5,783 work right here, and 45,106 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chapel Hill.

15,574live here, work elsewhere

5,783live and work here

45,106work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chapel Hill goes to work

Chapel Hill (in town)right here

27%5,783

Durham8.7 mi away

20%4,225

Raleigh23.3 mi away

10%2,094

Charlotte112.2 mi away

4%799

Cary15.7 mi away

4%791

Greensboro45.3 mi away

2%507

Carrboro2.6 mi away

2%449

Morrisville12.9 mi away

1%315

Burlington26 mi away

1%227

Winston-Salem69.3 mi away

1%213

Everywhere elseother towns and states

28%5,954

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

How far

How far Chapel Hill commutes

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

49%

22%

11%

17%

49%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chapel Hill is a job hub

2.38jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Chapel Hill are

50,889 jobs are based in Chapel Hill. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chapel Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chapel Hill

50,889 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)92%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Chapel Hill residents hold

21,357 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+14%

Jobs based in Chapel Hill, 2013 → 2023: 44,828 → 50,889. 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.