Photo: James Shelton32 · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 2.0 jobs in Chilhowie for every working resident, and 1,178 people commute in
1,234 jobs are based in Chilhowie, and 630 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Chilhowie C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chilhowie at work: what stands out
Chilhowie is where the jobs are
Chilhowie has 1,234 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Chilhowie are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Chilhowie workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 630 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Chilhowie
On income, poverty and job access, Chilhowie is better than 16% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Chilhowie’s grade up (13.1%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($51,429, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Chilhowie’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, Chilhowie could be anywhere from D to C+.
How many people are in Chilhowie by day
On a workday 574 residents head out to work and 56 work right here.
About 2,200 people are in Chilhowie on a workday afternoon, 38% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Chilhowie’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chilhowie workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 904 commuters (the 4% 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.
Where Chilhowie’s workforce comes from
Where Chilhowie clocks in
19% of workers
8% 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.
Chilhowie makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chilhowie, 2013 → 2023: 1,397 → 1,234. 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 Chilhowie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Chilhowie’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Most trips from Chilhowie start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chilhowie is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chilhowie 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 946 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). 5.6% of Chilhowie households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chilhowie’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Chilhowie ranks: 4,614th of 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,612 | Mount Olive IL | 1,936 | $56K | 17.8% | 7.9% | 7% | C− |
| 4,613 | St. Stephen SC | 1,623 | $65K | 16.5% | 6.1% | 3% | C− |
| 4,614 | Chilhowie VA | 1,599 | $51K | 13.1% | 1.7% | 9% | C− |
| 4,615 | Blair WI | 1,292 | $60K | 16.7% | 3.8% | 7% | C− |
| 4,616 | Rock River Township MI | 1,230 | $63K | 10.8% | 5.4% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | 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 Chilhowie, 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 Chilhowie: questions
What is the median household income in Chilhowie?
$51,429 (±$13,051) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chilhowie?
13.1%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chilhowie?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chilhowie work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marion (19%, 10 mi), Abingdon (8%, 17 mi), Atkins (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chilhowie walkable?
Chilhowie is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chilhowie 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 Chilhowie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chilhowie
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.