Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Buchanan have lower incomes than those in 82% of U.S. towns
17.9% of residents are in poverty, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. Only 2% stay in Buchanan for work; outside it, Roanoke is the main destination (18%, 22 miles). Home is the office for 6% of workers; Virginia has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Buchanan: the gist
Buchanan’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Buchanan is Roanoke, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (85) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Buchanan workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical 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; with 478 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Buchanan’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Buchanan is better than 12% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Buchanan’s grade.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Buchanan’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Buchanan could be anywhere from D− to B−.
How many miles Buchanan commutes
About 15% 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.
From Buchanan, about 33 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buchanan workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 536 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.
Buchanan on a workday afternoon
On a workday 467 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 266 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Buchanan on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ Buchanan’s residents
Where Buchanan clocks in
18% of workers
8% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 49% of the jobs in Buchanan
277 jobs are based in Buchanan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buchanan, 2013 → 2023: 347 → 277. 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 Buchanan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Buchanan, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buchanan is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 573 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). 3.6% of Buchanan households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Buchanan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Buchanan is 3,429th among 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,427 | Zebulon GA | 1,358 | $50K | 24.3% | 11.0% | 7% | D |
| 3,428 | Rosebud TX | 1,344 | $45K | 17.0% | 0.0% | 5% | D |
| 3,429 | Buchanan VA | 1,212 | $54K | 17.9% | 6.6% | 2% | D |
| 3,430 | Patoka Township IN | 1,599 | $60K | 13.5% | 0.0% | 3% | D |
| 3,431 | Ferry Township MI | 1,305 | $55K | 11.9% | 4.2% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Buchanan, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
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 Buchanan: questions
What is the median household income in Buchanan?
$54,226 (±$9,925) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buchanan?
17.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buchanan?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buchanan work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roanoke (18%, 22 mi), Fincastle (8%, 10 mi), Hollins (6%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buchanan walkable?
Buchanan is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buchanan without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buchanan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buchanan
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.