Work & commute · North Topsail Beach

Work & commute in North Topsail Beach, NC

Most working residents leave North Topsail Beach for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Surf City (13%), Jacksonville (10%) and Charlotte (5%). Half commute less than 29 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11 of 299 working residents

Typical commute

29 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

43%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 288 North Topsail Beach residents head out of town to work, 11 work right here, and 101 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in North Topsail Beach.

288live here, work elsewhere

11live and work here

101work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where North Topsail Beach goes to work

Surf City6.5 mi away

13%38

Jacksonville16.9 mi away

10%31

Charlotte198.7 mi away

5%16

Raleigh115 mi away

4%13

North Topsail Beach (in town)right here

4%11

Wilmington32 mi away

4%11

Holly Ridge5.3 mi away

3%8

Durham131.8 mi away

2%6

Winston-Salem194.4 mi away

2%5

Richlands28.9 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%156

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

How far

How far North Topsail Beach commutes

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

24%

13%

39%

24%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

39%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

North Topsail Beach is a commuter town

0.37jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in North Topsail Beach are

112 jobs are based in North Topsail Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Topsail Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in North Topsail Beach

112 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs North Topsail Beach residents hold

299 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+96%

Jobs based in North Topsail Beach, 2013 → 2023: 57 → 112. 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.