Work & commute · Red Oak

Work & commute in Red Oak, NC

Most working residents leave Red Oak for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Rocky Mount (34%), Raleigh (7%) and Nashville (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30 of 1,585 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,555 Red Oak residents head out of town to work, 30 work right here, and 199 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Red Oak.

1,555live here, work elsewhere

30live and work here

199work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Red Oak goes to work

Rocky Mount8.3 mi away

34%542

Raleigh44.2 mi away

7%108

Nashville7 mi away

5%75

Wilson22.8 mi away

5%75

Greenville43.7 mi away

3%51

Tarboro22.2 mi away

2%36

Charlotte174.6 mi away

2%31

Red Oak (in town)right here

2%30

Durham55.9 mi away

1%23

Dortches4.3 mi away

1%18

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%596

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

How far

How far Red Oak commutes

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

45%

16%

21%

18%

45%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Red Oak is a commuter town

0.14jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Red Oak are

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

Jobs based in Red Oak

229 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Red Oak residents hold

1,585 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+7%

Jobs based in Red Oak, 2013 → 2023: 215 → 229. 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.