Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0Culpeper has lower unemployment (2.3%) than 80% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Culpeper B; getting around on foot earns it A−. For 10% of workers, the job is at home, where Virginia as a whole has 18%. About one in five work in Culpeper; the top destination outside it is Warrenton (5%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Culpeper, in brief
Culpeper draws workers from far and wide
The 10,435 jobs in Culpeper are filled from a wide area. Culpeper’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 6%; the other 77% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
No single place dominates Culpeper’s commute
The biggest draw, Warrenton, gets only 5% of working residents, and 59% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Culpeper residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Culpeper workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Culpeper
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Culpeper is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #164 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Culpeper’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (12.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Culpeper could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Where the trip to work from Culpeper ends
Where Culpeper clocks in
5% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Each way, about 32 minutes from Culpeper
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Culpeper workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,028 commuters (the 10% 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 daily flow of workers through Culpeper
On a workday 6,287 residents head out to work, 1,741 work right here, and 8,694 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Culpeper on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
What the 10,435 jobs in Culpeper are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Culpeper, 2013 → 2023: 10,056 → 10,435. 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 Culpeper’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Culpeper
About 23% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Culpeper
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Culpeper is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #111 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Culpeper 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 10,070 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). 6.0% of Culpeper households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Culpeper’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Culpeper is 1,048th among 1,847 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Rose Hill VA | 21,066 | $175K | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,046 | Southgate MI | 28,931 | $66K | 9.4% | 4.2% | 6% | B |
| 1,047 | Owatonna MN | 26,633 | $81K | 9.2% | 3.6% | 56% | B |
| 1,048 | Culpeper VA | 22,074 | $95K | 12.8% | 2.3% | 22% | B |
| 1,049 | Miami Township OH | 16,030 | $99K | 7.5% | 8.1% | 5% | B |
| 1,050 | Stroud Township PA | 19,629 | $95K | 10.3% | 3.9% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,847 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Culpeper, 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 Culpeper: questions
What is the median household income in Culpeper?
$94,721 (±$11,972) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Culpeper?
12.8%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Culpeper?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Culpeper work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warrenton (5%, 20 mi), Washington (3%, 61 mi), Manassas (2%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Culpeper walkable?
Culpeper is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Culpeper without a car?
2% 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 Culpeper, from the people who make the trip.
More of Culpeper
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.