Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Buena Vista (1.4%) than in 91% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 56.3 in Arlington. Buena Vista grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers (Virginia 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Buena Vista
Commutes from Buena Vista are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Buena Vista makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Buena Vista are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Buena Vista residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Buena Vista
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buena Vista is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #206 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Buena Vista’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (18.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buena Vista could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Buena Vista
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buena Vista workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,546 commuters (the 8% 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.
Buena Vista works in goods: 39% of its jobs
2,216 jobs are based in Buena Vista.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buena Vista, 2014 → 2024: 2,620 → 2,216. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buena Vista’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Buena Vista
On a workday 2,271 residents head out to work, 591 work right here, and 1,625 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Buena Vista on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in Lexington
Where Buena Vista clocks in
16% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Buena Vista
About 23% 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 2024.
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: Buena Vista
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,769 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 8.5% of Buena Vista households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Buena Vista’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,000, Buena Vista ranks 2,273rd of 3,201 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 6 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | South Run VA | 6,600 | $250K | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,271 | Macclenny FL | 8,251 | $74K | 9.5% | 7.1% | 19% | C |
| 2,272 | Old Town ME | 7,589 | $52K | 21.3% | 1.8% | 12% | C |
| 2,273 | Buena Vista VA | 6,672 | $58K | 18.8% | 1.4% | 21% | C |
| 2,274 | North Madison OH | 8,594 | $68K | 9.9% | 6.8% | 3% | C |
| 2,275 | South Cleveland TN | 7,452 | $67K | 10.2% | 8.6% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,201 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Buena Vista, 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 2024, 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 Buena Vista: questions
What is the median household income in Buena Vista?
$57,833 (±$8,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buena Vista?
18.8%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buena Vista?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buena Vista work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (16%, 6 mi), Roanoke (4%, 45 mi), Glasgow (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Buena Vista walkable?
Buena Vista is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buena Vista without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buena Vista, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buena Vista
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.