Most of Captains Cove commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Measured by household income, Captains Cove is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. There are 63 jobs in Captains Cove, against 559 working residents. Jobs and income earn Captains Cove B+; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Captains Cove stands out on work
Captains Cove is a place people come home to
There are 63 jobs based in Captains Cove, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Captains Cove has about 1,000 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
A lot of Captains Cove works from home
28% of Captains Cove workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. 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 559 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Captains Cove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Captains Cove is better than 74% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Captains Cove’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.5%) is left out: Captains Cove’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Captains Cove could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who commutes out of Captains Cove, and who commutes in
On a workday 553 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Captains Cove on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer 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.
How far Captains Cove’s workers travel
About 46% 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.
How long Captains Cove spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Captains Cove workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 413 commuters (the 28% 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.
10% of working residents work in Chincoteague
Where Captains Cove clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Most jobs in Captains Cove are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Captains Cove, 2013 → 2023: 59 → 63. 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 Captains Cove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Captains Cove, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Captains Cove is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 577 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). 1.3% of Captains Cove households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Captains Cove’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Captains Cove ranks: 879th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 877 | Sandyston Township NJ | 2,032 | $104K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 878 | Milan OH | 1,344 | $98K | 7.1% | 1.5% | 3% | B+ |
| 879 | Captains Cove VA | 1,542 | $110K | 0.0% | 1.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 880 | Moville IA | 1,708 | $96K | 3.4% | 2.4% | 7% | B+ |
| 881 | Mohican Township OH | 2,088 | $83K | 8.6% | 0.6% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Captains Cove, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door to Captains Cove
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Captains Cove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captains Cove | – | B+ | C− | 32 min | $110,156 |
| Greenbackville | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Greenbackville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Captains Cove’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 Captains Cove: questions
What is the median household income in Captains Cove?
$110,156 (±$28,704) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Captains Cove?
0.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Captains Cove?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Captains Cove work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chincoteague (10%, 5 mi), Accomac (5%, 23 mi), Salisbury (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Captains Cove walkable?
Captains Cove is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Captains Cove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Captains Cove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Captains Cove
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.