Photo: Metayel · Public domainWork and commuting in Damascus
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Damascus; the top destination outside it is Abingdon (19%, 11 miles). Employers in Damascus report 225 jobs for 324 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Damascus: the gist
About 21 minutes to work from Damascus
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Damascus workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 252 commuters (the 15% 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.
A workday in Damascus: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 315 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 680 people are in Damascus on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
Where Damascus goes to work
Where Damascus clocks in
19% of workers
10% 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 Damascus’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Damascus, 2013 → 2023: 264 → 225. 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 Damascus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Damascus
About 17% 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.
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 Damascus: questions
What is the median household income in Damascus?
$29,006 (±$6,429) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Damascus?
19.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Damascus?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Damascus work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Abingdon (19%, 11 mi), Bristol (10%, 20 mi), Bristol (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Damascus without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Damascus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Damascus
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.