Work & commute · Hillsborough

Work & commute in Hillsborough, NC

Most working residents leave Hillsborough for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Durham (26%), Chapel Hill (12%) and Raleigh (10%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

362 of 4,493 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,131 Hillsborough residents head out of town to work, 362 work right here, and 6,322 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Hillsborough.

4,131live here, work elsewhere

362live and work here

6,322work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Hillsborough goes to work

Durham13.1 mi away

26%1,178

Chapel Hill10.8 mi away

12%534

Raleigh30.7 mi away

10%449

Hillsborough (in town)right here

8%362

Charlotte114.3 mi away

3%136

Cary25.5 mi away

3%135

Greensboro40.5 mi away

3%124

Burlington20.7 mi away

2%97

Mebane10 mi away

2%91

Morrisville22.1 mi away

1%62

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%1,325

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

How far

How far Hillsborough commutes

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

25%

43%

19%

13%

25%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Hillsborough is balanced between jobs and homes

1.49jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Hillsborough are

6,684 jobs are based in Hillsborough. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hillsborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Hillsborough

6,684 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Hillsborough residents hold

4,493 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+26%

Jobs based in Hillsborough, 2013 → 2023: 5,320 → 6,684. 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.