Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Bull Run’s household incomes are higher than in 67% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 56.3 in Arlington. 13.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.9% across Virginia. Jobs and income earn Bull Run B; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Bull Run
No single place dominates Bull Run’s commute
The biggest draw, Manassas, gets only 6% of working residents, and 66% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Bull Run residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Bull Run draws workers from far and wide
The 6,287 jobs in Bull Run are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 25%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Bull Run workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Bull Run’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bull Run is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #158 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Bull Run’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bull Run could be anywhere from B− to A−.
6% of working residents work in Manassas
Where Bull Run clocks in
6% 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.
Each way, about 32 minutes from Bull Run
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bull Run workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,515 commuters (the 13% 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 many people are in Bull Run by day
On a workday 7,583 residents head out to work, 215 work right here, and 6,072 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 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.
The kinds of work in Bull Run
6,287 jobs are based in Bull Run.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bull Run, 2014 → 2024: 6,236 → 6,287. 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 Bull Run’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Bull Run, by distance
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.
Bull Run is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bull Run is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #100 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,749 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 5.2% of Bull Run households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bull Run’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bull Run is 1,038th of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Rose Hill VA | 21,066 | $175K | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,036 | University of California-Santa Barbara CA | 12,121 | $69K | 17.5% | 14.4% | 11% | B |
| 1,037 | Seabrook MD | 18,317 | $98K | 11.8% | 6.5% | 2% | B |
| 1,038 | Bull Run VA | 16,859 | $90K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,039 | Murraysville NC | 16,339 | $81K | 4.5% | 5.8% | 4% | B |
| 1,040 | Antioch IL | 15,000 | $109K | 7.9% | 8.2% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Bull Run, 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 Bull Run: questions
What is the median household income in Bull Run?
$89,679 (±$7,118) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bull Run?
13.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bull Run?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bull Run work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manassas (6%, 3 mi), Chantilly (5%, 9 mi), Arlington (3%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bull Run walkable?
Bull Run is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bull Run without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bull Run, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bull Run
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.