Clinch Valley Roller Mills · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Cedar Bluff have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers (Virginia 18%). Below the poverty line: 17.4% of residents, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. The two grades for Cedar Bluff are D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Cedar Bluff
The better-paid jobs are outside Cedar Bluff
49% of Cedar Bluff residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in Cedar Bluff pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Few Cedar Bluff workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Cedar Bluff pay little
26% of the jobs based in Cedar Bluff pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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; with 387 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Cedar Bluff’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Cedar Bluff is better than 4% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Cedar Bluff’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($37,170, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Cedar Bluff’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, Cedar Bluff could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The kinds of work in Cedar Bluff
401 jobs are based in Cedar Bluff.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cedar Bluff, 2013 → 2023: 492 → 401. 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 Cedar Bluff’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Cedar Bluff: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cedar Bluff workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 400 commuters (the 3% 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.
A workday in Cedar Bluff: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 374 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 388 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 (1.04 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Richlands
Where Cedar Bluff clocks in
10% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Cedar Bluff
About 24% 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.
Getting around Cedar Bluff: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cedar Bluff is more walkable than 22% 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 412 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). 8.6% of Cedar Bluff households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cedar Bluff’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cedar Bluff and other U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Ruckersville VA | 1,399 | $102K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,838 | Bismarck MO | 1,224 | $40K | 20.3% | 7.6% | 6% | D− |
| 2,839 | Bethesda OH | 1,179 | $36K | 21.8% | 2.8% | 2% | D− |
| 2,840 | Cedar Bluff VA | 1,003 | $37K | 17.4% | 2.8% | 3% | D− |
| 2,841 | Turman Township IN | 1,080 | $54K | 30.0% | 0.0% | 4% | D− |
| 2,842 | Lincoln Township MI | 1,319 | $52K | 19.1% | 8.6% | <1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Cedar Bluff, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door is work for 16% of Cedar Bluff
The biggest share goes to Richlands (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cedar Bluff workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Bluff | – | D− | C− | 24 min | $37,170 |
| Claypool Hill | 6% | D | C− | 24 min | $45,446 |
| Richlands | 10% | D | C+ | 28 min | $37,154 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cedar Bluff’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 Cedar Bluff: questions
What is the median household income in Cedar Bluff?
$37,170 (±$10,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cedar Bluff?
17.4%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cedar Bluff?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cedar Bluff work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richlands (10%, 3 mi), Tazewell (8%, 14 mi), Claypool Hill (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cedar Bluff walkable?
Cedar Bluff is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cedar Bluff without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cedar Bluff, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cedar Bluff
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.