Photo: Truejim (Uploads) · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Cascades are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 2.9% of residents, next to 9.9% across Virginia. Cascades grades A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 30% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Virginia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Cascades, in a few figures
No single place dominates Cascades’ commute
The biggest draw, Reston, gets only 7% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Cascades residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Cascades
30% of Cascades workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cascades
73% of Cascades residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 52% of the jobs based in Cascades pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. 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.
Inside Cascades’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cascades is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #54 of 253 in Virginia. Household income is its strongest input ($167,171, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cascades could be anywhere from A to A+.
7% of working residents work in Reston
Where Cascades clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
The trip to work from Cascades: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cascades workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,777 commuters (the 30% 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.
What Cascades’ employers do
4,632 jobs are based in Cascades.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cascades, 2013 → 2023: 4,666 → 4,632. 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 Cascades’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Cascades on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,446 residents head out to work, 185 work right here, and 4,447 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Cascades on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.70 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 commute from Cascades, by distance
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 Cascades, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cascades is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #119 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Cascades near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,843 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.9% of Cascades households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Cascades’ commuters take a bus or train.
Cascades is 200th of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Belmont VA | 9,729 | $243K | 2.1% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 14 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Green Valley MD | 13,602 | $172K | 2.8% | 3.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 199 | Middleton MA | 9,895 | $167K | 3.4% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| 200 | Cascades VA | 12,357 | $167K | 2.9% | 3.8% | 3% | A |
| 201 | La Grange Park IL | 13,453 | $120K | 4.9% | 3.3% | 4% | A |
| 202 | Hamburg NY | 9,840 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Cascades, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
The towns around Cascades
The biggest share goes to Dulles Town Center (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cascades workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascades | – | A | A− | 28 min | $167,171 |
| Countryside | under 3% | A− | B | 27 min | $148,810 |
| Lowes Island | under 3% | A+ | B+ | 31 min | $220,833 |
| Sugarland Run | under 3% | A | B+ | 28 min | $166,385 |
| Dulles Town Center | 3% | A− | B | 26 min | $125,941 |
| Sterling | under 3% | A | B+ | 24 min | $123,303 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cascades’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 Cascades: questions
What is the median household income in Cascades?
$167,171 (±$12,755) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cascades?
2.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cascades?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cascades work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reston (7%, 7 mi), Washington (7%, 22 mi), Tysons (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cascades walkable?
Cascades is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cascades without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cascades, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cascades
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.