Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Bastian draws 391 commuters a day, with 2.7 jobs for every working resident
Home is the office for 45% of workers, against 18% across Virginia. Employers in Bastian report 400 jobs, and 148 of its residents work somewhere. Only 6% work in Bastian; the top destination outside it is Wytheville (19%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Bastian
On a workday 139 residents head out to work and 9 work right here.
About 630 people are in Bastian on a workday afternoon, 67% 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.
Commuting in to Bastian: where workers come from
Where Bastian clocks in
19% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Bastian: what the 400 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bastian, 2013 → 2023: 24 → 400. 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 Bastian’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Bastian
of Bastian workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 72 commuters (the 45% 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.
How far Bastian goes to work
About 21% 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 Bastian: questions
What is the median household income in Bastian?
$41,711 (±$32,283) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bastian?
0.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Bastian work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wytheville (19%, 14 mi), Bland (7%, 4 mi), Princeton (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bastian without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bastian, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bastian
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.