Work & commute · Wake Forest

Work & commute in Wake Forest, NC

Most working residents leave Wake Forest for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Raleigh (34%), Durham (10%) and Cary (5%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,170 of 23,024 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 20,854 Wake Forest residents head out of town to work, 2,170 work right here, and 14,622 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wake Forest.

20,854live here, work elsewhere

2,170live and work here

14,622work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wake Forest goes to work

Raleigh11.6 mi away

34%7,838

Durham21.6 mi away

10%2,292

Wake Forest (in town)right here

9%2,170

Cary21.5 mi away

5%1,223

Charlotte140.4 mi away

4%958

Morrisville20.3 mi away

2%510

Garner19.8 mi away

1%328

Greensboro73.9 mi away

1%281

Chapel Hill29.7 mi away

1%270

Apex26.4 mi away

1%208

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%6,946

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

How far

How far Wake Forest commutes

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

25%

51%

16%

25%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wake Forest is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Wake Forest are

16,792 jobs are based in Wake Forest. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wake Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wake Forest

16,792 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Wake Forest residents hold

23,024 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+91%

Jobs based in Wake Forest, 2013 → 2023: 8,771 → 16,792. 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.