Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Colonial Beach (1.3%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
Colonial Beach grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in ten work in Colonial Beach; the top destination outside it is Washington (5%, 44 miles). 11% of workers have no commute at all, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Colonial Beach and work: the main findings
Colonial Beach 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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.
Inside Colonial Beach’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Colonial Beach is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #226 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Colonial Beach’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Colonial Beach could be anywhere from D to C+.
About 40 minutes to work from Colonial Beach
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colonial Beach workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,212 commuters (the 11% 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.
The commute from Colonial Beach, by distance
About 31% 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.
Who works in Colonial Beach, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,452 residents head out to work, 164 work right here, and 513 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Colonial Beach on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.42 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 towns that employ Colonial Beach’s residents
Where Colonial Beach clocks in
5% 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.
What Colonial Beach’s employers do
677 jobs are based in Colonial Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colonial Beach, 2013 → 2023: 541 → 677. 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 Colonial Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Colonial Beach
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colonial Beach is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #90 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Colonial Beach 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 1,358 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). 5.7% of Colonial Beach households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colonial Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Colonial Beach is 3,084th of 4,112 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Navy VA | 3,839 | $239K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Kings Park VA | 4,315 | $166K | 1.9% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,082 | Fairport Harbor OH | 3,087 | $52K | 23.3% | 5.3% | 4% | C |
| 3,083 | Clyde TX | 4,024 | $68K | 14.0% | 6.4% | 19% | C |
| 3,084 | Colonial Beach VA | 4,151 | $61K | 24.4% | 1.3% | 10% | C |
| 3,085 | Logan Township IN | 3,694 | $68K | 15.4% | 4.9% | 22% | C |
| 3,086 | Fairfield Township NJ | 5,440 | $61K | 10.3% | 9.2% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Colonial Beach, 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 Colonial Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Colonial Beach?
$60,513 (±$9,233) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colonial Beach?
24.4%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colonial Beach?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colonial Beach work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (5%, 44 mi), King George (4%, 10 mi), Arlington (3%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colonial Beach walkable?
Colonial Beach is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colonial Beach 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 Colonial Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colonial Beach
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.