Work & commute · Waves

Work & commute in Waves, NC

Most working residents leave Waves for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Avon (15%), Buxton (15%) and Frisco (9%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 46 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

— min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

—%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 45 Waves residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 94 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waves.

45live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

94work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waves goes to work

Avon16.3 mi away

15%7

Buxton23 mi away

15%7

Frisco23.5 mi away

9%4

Manteo25 mi away

7%3

Kill Devil Hills33 mi away

4%2

Hatteras27 mi away

4%2

Duck45.6 mi away

2%1

Southern Shores40.7 mi away

2%1

Edenton72 mi away

2%1

Kitty Hawk37.4 mi away

2%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%17

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

How far

How far Waves commutes

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

33%

31%

33%

2%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waves is a job hub

2.07jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waves are

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

Jobs based in Waves

95 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities71%

Services (health, schools, offices…)28%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Waves residents hold

46 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+30%

Jobs based in Waves, 2013 → 2023: 73 → 95. 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.