Work & commute · Oriental

Work & commute in Oriental, NC

Most working residents leave Oriental for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are New Bern (8%), Raleigh (5%) and Bayboro (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

28 of 259 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 231 Oriental residents head out of town to work, 28 work right here, and 274 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oriental.

231live here, work elsewhere

28live and work here

274work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oriental goes to work

Oriental (in town)right here

11%28

New Bern22.7 mi away

8%22

Raleigh123.6 mi away

5%14

Bayboro9.6 mi away

5%12

Alliance10.7 mi away

5%12

Arapahoe8.4 mi away

3%8

Minnesott Beach8.9 mi away

2%6

Kinston54.4 mi away

2%6

Havelock15.2 mi away

2%6

James City18.2 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%139

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

How far

How far Oriental commutes

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

34%

25%

35%

34%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

35%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oriental is balanced between jobs and homes

1.17jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oriental are

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

Jobs based in Oriental

302 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month25%

Jobs Oriental residents hold

259 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month40%

+11%

Jobs based in Oriental, 2013 → 2023: 272 → 302. 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.