Work & commute · Southport

Work & commute in Southport, NC

Most working residents leave Southport for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (12%), Oak Island (6%) and Raleigh (4%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

249 of 1,617 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,368 Southport residents head out of town to work, 249 work right here, and 2,248 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Southport.

1,368live here, work elsewhere

249live and work here

2,248work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Southport goes to work

Southport (in town)right here

15%249

Wilmington20.3 mi away

12%194

Oak Island6.5 mi away

6%91

Raleigh136 mi away

4%65

Bald Head Island4.9 mi away

4%58

Charlotte183.2 mi away

3%55

Shallotte21.6 mi away

3%42

Boiling Spring Lakes8.6 mi away

2%32

St. James5.3 mi away

2%31

Leland19.5 mi away

2%28

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%772

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

How far

How far Southport commutes

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

39%

26%

31%

39%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Southport is a job hub

1.54jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Southport are

2,497 jobs are based in Southport. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Southport’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Southport

2,497 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Southport residents hold

1,617 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+44%

Jobs based in Southport, 2013 → 2023: 1,732 → 2,497. 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.