Work & commute · Nashville

Work & commute in Nashville, NC

Most working residents leave Nashville for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Rocky Mount (25%), Raleigh (8%) and Wilson (7%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

214 of 2,368 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,154 Nashville residents head out of town to work, 214 work right here, and 2,886 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Nashville.

2,154live here, work elsewhere

214live and work here

2,886work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Nashville goes to work

Rocky Mount8.3 mi away

25%599

Nashville (in town)right here

9%214

Raleigh39.5 mi away

8%182

Wilson16.5 mi away

7%172

Greenville41.5 mi away

3%60

Charlotte169.8 mi away

2%45

Tarboro22.8 mi away

2%43

Durham52.6 mi away

2%41

Cary50.3 mi away

1%26

Roanoke Rapids37.2 mi away

1%23

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%963

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

How far

How far Nashville commutes

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

37%

23%

22%

19%

37%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Nashville is balanced between jobs and homes

1.31jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Nashville are

3,100 jobs are based in Nashville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Nashville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Nashville

3,100 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Nashville residents hold

2,368 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−1%

Jobs based in Nashville, 2013 → 2023: 3,121 → 3,100. 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.