Photo: KJPurscell · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Big Stone Gap (7.0%) is higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Big Stone Gap itself; outside it, Wise draws the most (11%, 13 miles). 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Virginia. 26.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Virginia 9.9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Big Stone Gap and work: the main findings
Commutes from Big Stone Gap are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Big Stone Gap workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Big Stone Gap’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Big Stone Gap
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Big Stone Gap is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #252 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Big Stone Gap’s grade up (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Big Stone Gap could be anywhere from D− to C+.
About 19 minutes each way for Big Stone Gap’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Stone Gap workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,341 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.
In Big Stone Gap, services account for most jobs
2,358 jobs are based in Big Stone Gap.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Stone Gap, 2013 → 2023: 2,694 → 2,358. 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 Big Stone Gap’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Big Stone Gap
On a workday 1,317 residents head out to work, 294 work right here, and 2,064 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in Big Stone Gap on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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.
Commuting out of Big Stone Gap: the destinations
Where Big Stone Gap clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Big Stone Gap
About 24% 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.
In Big Stone Gap, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,423 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). 15.7% of Big Stone Gap households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Big Stone Gap’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Big Stone Gap sits among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 6,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 9 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | South Run VA | 6,600 | $250K | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,427 | Perham MN | 3,746 | $50K | 19.1% | 8.9% | 45% | D |
| 3,428 | Ellisville MS | 4,473 | $32K | 22.9% | 10.9% | 11% | D |
| 3,429 | Big Stone Gap VA | 5,102 | $55K | 26.2% | 7.0% | 18% | D |
| 3,430 | Heber-Overgaard AZ | 3,621 | $59K | 11.8% | 16.4% | 17% | D |
| 3,431 | Adel GA | 5,854 | $44K | 23.9% | 6.8% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,627 | 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 Big Stone Gap, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
The towns around Big Stone Gap
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Big Stone Gap workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Stone Gap | – | D | A− | 19 min | $54,581 |
| Big Stone Gap East | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Big Stone Gap East: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Big Stone Gap’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 Big Stone Gap: questions
What is the median household income in Big Stone Gap?
$54,581 (±$6,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Stone Gap?
26.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Stone Gap?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Stone Gap work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wise (11%, 13 mi), Norton (9%, 10 mi), Kingsport (4%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Big Stone Gap walkable?
Big Stone Gap is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Big Stone Gap without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Big Stone Gap, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Stone Gap
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.