Spring Green · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMost of Central Garage commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Central Garage report 293 jobs, against 1,078 working residents. Central Garage grades B for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Home is the office for 5% of workers; Virginia has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Central Garage, in a few figures
Central Garage workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Central Garage is a place people come home to
There are 293 jobs based in Central Garage, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Central Garage has about 1,100 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Central Garage’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Central Garage is Richmond, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (109) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Central Garage
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Central Garage is better than 56% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Central Garage’s grade up ($87,750, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Central Garage could be anywhere from D to A.
How long Central Garage spends getting to work: about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central Garage workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,114 commuters (the 5% 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.
Who leaves Central Garage for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,065 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 280 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Central Garage on a workday afternoon, 42% 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 it is to work from Central Garage
About 25% 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.
10% of working residents work in Richmond
Where Central Garage clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
What Central Garage’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central Garage, 2013 → 2023: 210 → 293. 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 Central Garage’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Central Garage, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Central Garage is more walkable than 17% 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 1,170 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). 5.5% of Central Garage households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Central Garage’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Central Garage is 1,904th among 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,902 | Reading NY | 1,643 | $86K | 5.6% | 5.1% | 9% | B |
| 1,903 | Brothersvalley Township PA | 2,319 | $70K | 8.5% | 0.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,904 | Central Garage VA | 1,864 | $88K | 12.2% | 3.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,905 | Stewartstown PA | 2,225 | $81K | 9.5% | 5.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,906 | Shinnston WV | 2,241 | $70K | 11.8% | 2.1% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | 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 Central Garage, 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 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 Central Garage: questions
What is the median household income in Central Garage?
$87,750 (±$38,301) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central Garage?
12.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Central Garage?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Central Garage work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (10%, 24 mi), Mechanicsville (7%, 15 mi), Ashland (3%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Central Garage walkable?
Central Garage is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Central Garage without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Central Garage, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central Garage
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.