Photo: Jarek Tuszyński · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Covington earn less than those in 95% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Covington is better than 18% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). Below the poverty line: 25.7% of residents, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. Home is the office for 7% of workers, where Virginia as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Covington: the gist
Covington makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in Covington are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Covington residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
No single place dominates Covington’s commute
The biggest draw, Roanoke, gets only 5% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Covington residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Covington are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Covington pay better than its residents’ jobs
67% of the jobs based in Covington pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 48% of the jobs Covington residents hold. 82% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Covington. The jobs ↓
Covington gains people on a workday
About 6,900 people are in Covington on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 5,700 who live here: 3,000 come in to work and 1,900 head out. Day and night ↓
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’s behind Covington’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Covington’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($41,944, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Covington could be anywhere from D− to C.
Factories, building and farms: 54% of the jobs in Covington
3,690 jobs are based in Covington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Covington, 2013 → 2023: 3,356 → 3,690. 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 Covington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
5% of working residents work in Roanoke
Where Covington clocks in
5% 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.
Commuting from Covington: about 17 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Covington workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,868 commuters (the 7% 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.
Covington on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,859 residents head out to work, 646 work right here, and 3,044 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Covington on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
Covington’s commute, mile by mile
About 29% 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.
For most of Covington, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of 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 2,015 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 35% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.0% of Covington households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Covington’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,962nd of 3,476: where Covington ranks among U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 7 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | South Run VA | 6,600 | $250K | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,960 | Haughton LA | 4,828 | $52K | 15.6% | 7.5% | 4% | C− |
| 2,961 | Connellsville PA | 6,574 | $46K | 16.3% | 6.8% | 16% | C− |
| 2,962 | Covington VA | 5,680 | $42K | 25.7% | 2.8% | 26% | C− |
| 2,963 | Mount Morris NY | 4,419 | $57K | 13.4% | 6.2% | 11% | C− |
| 2,964 | Lake Township PA | 4,910 | $60K | 12.3% | 8.8% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,476 | 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 Covington, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Around Covington: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Mallow (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Covington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covington | – | C− | B+ | 17 min | $41,944 |
| Mallow | 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mallow: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Covington’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 Covington: questions
What is the median household income in Covington?
$41,944 (±$11,178) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Covington?
25.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Covington?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Covington work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roanoke (5%, 35 mi), Low Moor (3%, 6 mi), Clifton Forge (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Covington walkable?
Covington is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Covington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 35% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Covington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Covington
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.