Work & commute · Ocean Isle Beach

Work & commute in Ocean Isle Beach, NC

Most working residents leave Ocean Isle Beach for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (9%), Shallotte (9%) and Sunset Beach (5%). Half commute less than 37 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 278 working residents

Typical commute

37 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 258 Ocean Isle Beach residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 722 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ocean Isle Beach.

258live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

722work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ocean Isle Beach goes to work

Wilmington38 mi away

9%26

Shallotte6.2 mi away

9%25

Ocean Isle Beach (in town)right here

7%20

Sunset Beach4.1 mi away

5%13

Charlotte163.4 mi away

5%13

Raleigh133.8 mi away

3%9

Durham145.8 mi away

3%7

Whiteville33.2 mi away

2%6

Calabash6.1 mi away

2%5

Leland31.2 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%150

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

How far

How far Ocean Isle Beach commutes

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

30%

10%

21%

39%

30%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

39%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ocean Isle Beach is a job hub

2.67jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Ocean Isle Beach are

742 jobs are based in Ocean Isle Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ocean Isle Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ocean Isle Beach

742 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less27%

$1,251–$3,333 a month45%

Over $3,333 a month28%

Jobs Ocean Isle Beach residents hold

278 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+69%

Jobs based in Ocean Isle Beach, 2013 → 2023: 438 → 742. 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.