Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Virginia draws 4,631 commuters a day, with 1.9 jobs for every working resident
The two grades for Virginia are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Employers in Virginia report 5,775 jobs, against 3,097 working residents. Measured by household income, Virginia is behind 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Virginia
Virginia is where the jobs are
Virginia has 5,775 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Virginia’s workers comes from Hibbing
459 of the people who work in Virginia live in Hibbing, 22 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Virginia are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Virginia’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Virginia is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #260 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Virginia’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,720, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Virginia could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Virginia
On a workday 1,953 residents head out to work and 1,144 work right here.
About 11,000 people are in Virginia on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Virginia, and from where
Where Virginia clocks in
9% 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.
Getting to work from Virginia takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Virginia workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,175 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Virginia
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Virginia, 2013 → 2023: 6,510 → 5,775. 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 Virginia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Virginia’s workers travel
About 30% 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.
Virginia is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Virginia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #78 of 273 in Minnesota. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,370 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.9% of Virginia households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Virginia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Virginia next to U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,100
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Albertville MN | 8,544 | $133K | 1.1% | 0.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Corcoran MN | 9,269 | $133K | 3.6% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Livonia Township MN | 6,436 | $137K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,733 | Clairton PA | 5,876 | $37K | 33.0% | 8.2% | 5% | D |
| 2,734 | Litchfield IL | 6,598 | $54K | 16.3% | 6.4% | 27% | D |
| 2,735 | Virginia MN | 8,187 | $52K | 18.0% | 5.6% | 37% | D |
| 2,736 | Grayling Township MI | 5,892 | $65K | 11.8% | 7.4% | 14% | D |
| 2,737 | Jackson GA | 5,884 | $46K | 19.4% | 5.7% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,034 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Virginia, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Work next door: 14% of Virginia’s workers
The biggest share goes to Mountain Iron (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Virginia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | – | D | A− | 18 min | $51,720 |
| Mountain Iron | 11% | B− | B+ | 16 min | $83,293 |
| Gilbert | under 2% | C | C+ | 20 min | $64,625 |
| Wuori Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Eveleth | 3% | D | B | 20 min | $50,725 |
| Biwabik Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wuori Township and Biwabik Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Virginia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Virginia: questions
What is the median household income in Virginia?
$51,720 (±$4,527) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Virginia?
18.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Virginia?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Virginia work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mountain Iron (11%, 5 mi), Duluth (9%, 55 mi), Hibbing (6%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Virginia walkable?
Virginia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Virginia without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Virginia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Virginia
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.