St. Paul's School · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainEarning a living in Alberta
The trip to work takes 32 minutes on average (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). Home is the office for 6% of workers, where Virginia as a whole has 18%. Only 2% work in Alberta itself; outside it, Richmond draws the most (5%, 52 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Alberta, and who commutes in
On a workday 146 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 238 people come in from elsewhere.
About 390 people are in Alberta on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Where the people who work in Alberta live
Where Alberta clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Alberta: 241 jobs
241 jobs are based in Alberta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alberta, 2013 → 2023: 543 → 241. 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 Alberta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Alberta’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alberta workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 145 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Alberta, by distance
About 36% 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.
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 Alberta: questions
What is the median household income in Alberta?
$41,964 (±$18,720) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alberta?
16.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alberta?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alberta work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (5%, 52 mi), South Hill (4%, 16 mi), Lawrenceville (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Alberta without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alberta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alberta
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.