Photo: Vahurzpu · CC BY-SA 4.0Ashburn has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 4.0% of residents, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. The two grades for Ashburn are A+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 30% of workers; Virginia has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ashburn
Ashburn draws workers from far and wide
The 30,450 jobs in Ashburn are filled from a wide area. Ashburn’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 74% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
No single place dominates Ashburn’s commute
The biggest draw, Reston, gets only 6% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Ashburn residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
A lot of Ashburn works from home
30% of Ashburn workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Ashburn pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Ashburn pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Ashburn’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income is its strongest input ($154,978, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashburn could be anywhere from A to A+.
6% of working residents work in Reston
Where Ashburn clocks in
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.
About 27 minutes each way, about the VA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashburn workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,701 commuters (the 30% 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.
74% of the jobs in Ashburn pay over $3,333 a month
30,450 jobs are based in Ashburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashburn, 2013 → 2023: 24,320 → 30,450. 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 Ashburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Ashburn on a workday
On a workday 22,330 residents head out to work, 2,112 work right here, and 28,338 people come in from elsewhere.
About 52,000 people are in Ashburn on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Near or far: the trip to work from Ashburn
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: Ashburn
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashburn is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #106 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Ashburn near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 23,842 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). 6.1% of Ashburn households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Ashburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ashburn is 49th of 969 U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Fort Mill SC | 38,673 | $122K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 15% | A+ |
| 48 | Parkland FL | 39,186 | $199K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| 49 | Ashburn VA | 46,026 | $155K | 4.0% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| 50 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| 51 | Ela Township IL | 46,385 | $174K | 2.7% | 4.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Linton Hall VA | 41,876 | $179K | 2.2% | 3.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Ashburn, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Ashburn and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Broadlands (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashburn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashburn | – | A+ | A− | 27 min | $154,978 |
| One Loudoun | under 3% | A+ | B | 28 min | $241,250 |
| Kincora | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $134,279 |
| Broadlands | 3% | A+ | B | 24 min | $241,042 |
| Belmont | under 3% | A+ | B | 32 min | $242,542 |
| Moorefield | under 3% | A+ | A− | 33 min | $205,257 |
| Goose Creek Village | under 3% | A− | B | 31 min | $198,631 |
| University Center | under 3% | B+ | B− | 23 min | $120,533 |
| Sterling | under 3% | A | B+ | 24 min | $123,303 |
| Dulles Town Center | under 3% | A− | B | 26 min | $125,941 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ashburn’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 Ashburn: questions
What is the median household income in Ashburn?
$154,978 (±$7,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashburn?
4.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashburn?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashburn work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reston (6%, 8 mi), Tysons (6%, 15 mi), Arlington (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashburn walkable?
Ashburn is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashburn without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ashburn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashburn
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.