Photo: GreenMGo · Public domainHouseholds in Williamsburg earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Williamsburg; the top destination outside it is Corbin (6%, 14 miles). The poverty rate is 30.9%, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. Williamsburg grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Williamsburg apart
Williamsburg is where the jobs are
Williamsburg has 4,671 jobs, 2.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,500 people are in town, 57% more than the 5,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Williamsburg are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Williamsburg workers earn over $40,000 a year
41% of Williamsburg’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Williamsburg’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Williamsburg is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #114 of 142 in Kentucky. Unemployment holds Williamsburg’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($38,147, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williamsburg could be anywhere from D− to C.
In and out of Williamsburg on a workday
On a workday 1,079 residents head out to work, 513 work right here, and 4,158 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Williamsburg on a workday afternoon, 57% more than live here.
2.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Williamsburg, about 13 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williamsburg workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,795 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What Williamsburg’s employers do
4,671 jobs are based in Williamsburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williamsburg, 2013 → 2023: 4,690 → 4,671. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Williamsburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Williamsburg
Where Williamsburg clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far Williamsburg’s workers travel
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Williamsburg
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Williamsburg is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #18 of 142 in Kentucky. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,986 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.2% of Williamsburg households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williamsburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,169th of 3,541: where Williamsburg ranks among U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 298 | Prospect KY | 4,705 | $163K | 2.4% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Marietta Township OH | 4,176 | $56K | 15.0% | 7.9% | 8% | D |
| 3,168 | Sparks TX | 4,134 | $35K | 51.7% | 9.6% | 1% | D |
| 3,169 | Williamsburg KY | 5,371 | $38K | 30.9% | 3.9% | 32% | D |
| 3,170 | Salem NJ | 5,389 | $39K | 24.8% | 10.2% | 7% | D |
| 3,171 | Ridgway PA | 3,893 | $53K | 13.0% | 6.7% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Williamsburg, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Williamsburg: questions
What is the median household income in Williamsburg?
$38,147 (±$13,485) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williamsburg?
30.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williamsburg?
13 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williamsburg work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Corbin (6%, 14 mi), London (6%, 27 mi), Lexington (4%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williamsburg walkable?
Williamsburg is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williamsburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williamsburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williamsburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.