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Mountain HomeMountain Home · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jobs & commute in Chester Gap

Chester Gap has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each

Chester Gap has 28 jobs; 363 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Chester Gap itself; outside it, Front Royal draws the most (9%, 6 miles). For 6% of workers, the job is at home, against 18% across Virginia.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

28 jobs based here
Household income
$69K
median · Virginia $93K
Poverty
10.6%
Virginia 9.9%
Unemployment
4.5%
Virginia 4.3% · U.S. 5.2%
Time each way
30 min
Virginia 27 · U.S. 26
Work in town
<1%
1 of 363 working residents
Work from home
6%
Virginia 18% · U.S. 15%
What stands out

Work in Chester Gap, in a few figures

1jobs for every ten working residents
★ What stands out · Day and night

The daily commute in and out of Chester Gap

On a workday 362 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 27 people come in from elsewhere.

362live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
27work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night730
Workday390
730live here− 360head out to work+ 27come in to work= 390on a workday

About 390 people are in Chester Gap on a workday afternoon, 46% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.08jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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 map

Where Chester Gap goes to work

Washington: 8 residents work here (2%)Washington: 22 residents work here (6%)Warrenton: 21 residents work here (6%)Culpeper: 8 residents work here (2%)Front Royal: 32 residents work here (9%)Winchester: 13 residents work here (4%)Richmond: 5 residents work here (1%)Chesapeake Ranch EstatesSperryville: 6 residents work here (2%)Flint HillChester GapFair Oaks: 6 residents work here (2%)ShawneelandChantilly: 8 residents work here (2%)Shenandoah FarmsFront RoyalWashingtonWarrentonWinchesterWashingtonCulpeperChester Gap
1
Front Royal5.9 mi away
9%32
2
Washington9.7 mi away
6%22
3
Warrenton20.2 mi away
6%21
4
Winchester22.5 mi away
4%13
5
Washington, DC60.1 mi away
2%8
6
Culpeper27.2 mi away
2%8
7
Chantilly37.2 mi away
2%8
8
Sperryville14.6 mi away
2%6
9
Fair Oaks41.7 mi away
2%6
10
Richmond97.8 mi away
1%5
Everywhere elseother towns and states
64%234
The top trips

Where Chester Gap clocks in

9% of workers
5.9 mi awayFront Royal32 Chester Gap residents work here · Jobs & commute →
6%Washington
6% of workers
9.7 mi awayWashington22 Chester Gap residents work here · Jobs & commute →
6% of workers
20.2 mi awayWarrenton21 Chester Gap residents work here · Jobs & commute →

Lines 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 jobs

Goods, not services: 82% of the jobs in Chester Gap

Jobs based in Chester GapJobs Chester Gap residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms82%21%
Trade, transport & utilities4%18%
Services: health, schools, offices14%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month57%28%
Over $3,333 a month29%58%

Who does it

29 or younger29%21%
30 to 5446%48%
55 and older25%31%
+87%

Jobs based in Chester Gap, 2013 → 2023: 15 → 28. 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 Chester Gap’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Time on the road from Chester Gap: about 30 minutes

A year of commuting
232 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Chester Gap30 min
Virginia27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
6%

of Chester Gap workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Chester Gap gets to work
93%Drive alone
7%Carpool

Share of the 324 commuters (the 6% 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 far

Near or far: the trip to work from Chester Gap

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miFront Royal: 9% · 5.9 miWashington: 6% · 9.7 miWarrenton: 6% · 20.2 miWinchester: 4% · 22.5 miWashington: 2% · 60.1 miCulpeper: 2% · 27.2 miChantilly: 2% · 37.2 miSperryville: 2% · 14.6 miFair Oaks: 2% · 41.7 miRichmond: 1% · 97.8 miFront Royal 9%Washington 6%Warrenton 6%Winchester 4%Washington 2%Chester Gap
Chester GapTop destinations (size = commuters)
26%Under 10 mi93 residents
24%10–24 mi88 residents
23%25–50 mi82 residents
27%Over 50 mi99 residents

About 27% 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 to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Chester Gap: questions

What is the median household income in Chester Gap?

$69,063 (±$21,611) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Chester Gap?

10.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Chester Gap?

30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Chester Gap work?

<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Front Royal (9%, 6 mi), Washington (6%, 10 mi), Warrenton (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Chester Gap without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Chester Gap, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Chester Gap

Chester Gap home →
$390Ktypical home
HousingLive where you work?Home values, rent & the market in Chester Gap
30min commute
HandbookGetting around Chester GapRoads, buses, parking and the basics
shortest commutes
RankingsTop towns in VAShortest commutes, work from home & more

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.