Work & commute · Sunset Beach

Work & commute in Sunset Beach, NC

Most working residents leave Sunset Beach for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (8%), Shallotte (7%) and Calabash (6%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

87 of 1,273 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,186 Sunset Beach residents head out of town to work, 87 work right here, and 747 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sunset Beach.

1,186live here, work elsewhere

87live and work here

747work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sunset Beach goes to work

Wilmington41.9 mi away

8%108

Sunset Beach (in town)right here

7%87

Shallotte9.5 mi away

7%83

Calabash2.3 mi away

6%77

Raleigh134.4 mi away

5%59

Charlotte160.6 mi away

4%56

Ocean Isle Beach4.1 mi away

4%47

North Myrtle Beach, SC12.5 mi away

4%46

Little River, SC7.7 mi away

2%24

Carolina Shores3.9 mi away

1%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%671

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

How far

How far Sunset Beach commutes

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

35%

13%

19%

33%

35%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sunset Beach is a commuter town

0.66jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sunset Beach are

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

Jobs based in Sunset Beach

834 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less32%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month36%

Jobs Sunset Beach residents hold

1,273 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+15%

Jobs based in Sunset Beach, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 834. 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.