Work & commute · Raleigh

Work & commute in Raleigh, NC

44% of Raleigh’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Durham (10%), Cary (8%) and Charlotte (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

44%

93,825 of 215,567 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 121,742 Raleigh residents head out of town to work, 93,825 work right here, and 272,309 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Raleigh.

121,742live here, work elsewhere

93,825live and work here

272,309work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Raleigh goes to work

Raleigh (in town)right here

44%93,825

Durham17.6 mi away

10%21,446

Cary10.8 mi away

8%16,898

Charlotte130.5 mi away

4%9,633

Morrisville11.1 mi away

3%5,610

Garner9.9 mi away

2%4,430

Chapel Hill23.3 mi away

1%3,093

Wake Forest11.6 mi away

1%2,895

Greensboro68.6 mi away

1%2,678

Apex15.3 mi away

1%2,528

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%52,531

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

How far

How far Raleigh commutes

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

51%

28%

16%

51%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Raleigh is a job hub

1.70jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Raleigh are

366,134 jobs are based in Raleigh. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Raleigh’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Raleigh

366,134 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Raleigh residents hold

215,567 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+18%

Jobs based in Raleigh, 2013 → 2023: 310,137 → 366,134. 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.