Work & commute · Oak Island

Work & commute in Oak Island, NC

Most working residents leave Oak Island for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (11%), Southport (5%) and Charlotte (3%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

469 of 2,952 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,483 Oak Island residents head out of town to work, 469 work right here, and 1,548 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak Island.

2,483live here, work elsewhere

469live and work here

1,548work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak Island goes to work

Oak Island (in town)right here

16%469

Wilmington24.3 mi away

11%339

Southport6.5 mi away

5%161

Charlotte178.3 mi away

3%101

Shallotte15.6 mi away

3%87

Raleigh135.7 mi away

3%86

St. James2.3 mi away

2%68

Leland21.1 mi away

2%50

Bald Head Island8.6 mi away

2%47

Boiling Spring Lakes8.8 mi away

1%43

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%1,501

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

How far

How far Oak Island commutes

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

37%

20%

13%

30%

37%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak Island is a commuter town

0.68jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Oak Island are

2,017 jobs are based in Oak Island. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Island’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak Island

2,017 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Oak Island residents hold

2,952 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+86%

Jobs based in Oak Island, 2013 → 2023: 1,084 → 2,017. 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.