Photo: Miguel Gereda · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Danville are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
9% of workers work from home (Virginia 18%). 24.7% of residents are in poverty; Virginia has 9.9%. The two grades for Danville are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Danville, in brief
Danville is where the jobs are
Danville has 22,992 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Danville are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Danville draws workers from far and wide
The 22,992 jobs in Danville are filled from a wide area. Danville’s own residents hold 31% and the ten next-biggest home towns 10%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Danville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Danville is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #241 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Danville’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,423, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Danville could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily commute in and out of Danville
On a workday 8,070 residents head out to work, 7,238 work right here, and 15,754 people come in from elsewhere.
About 49,000 people are in Danville on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Danville’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Danville workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,000 commuters (the 9% 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 Danville’s workforce comes from
Where Danville clocks in
2% 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.
What work there is in Danville: 22,992 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Danville, 2013 → 2023: 25,340 → 22,992. 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 Danville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Danville’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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.
Few in Danville walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Danville is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #145 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Danville 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 16,449 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). 13.6% of Danville households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Danville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Danville compares with U.S. towns of 29,000 to 56,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Short Pump VA | 29,026 | $139K | 3.6% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 991 | Hinesville GA | 36,674 | $60K | 14.0% | 8.5% | 22% | C− |
| 992 | Oildale CA | 34,687 | $51K | 25.2% | 11.6% | 9% | C− |
| 993 | Danville VA | 41,647 | $44K | 24.7% | 5.6% | 47% | C− |
| 994 | Desert Hot Springs CA | 34,009 | $53K | 18.0% | 6.6% | 11% | C− |
| 995 | Rocky Mount NC | 55,120 | $56K | 19.7% | 8.0% | 33% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,037 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Danville, 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 Danville: questions
What is the median household income in Danville?
$44,423 (±$3,639) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Danville?
24.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Danville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Danville work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chatham (2%, 16 mi), Lynchburg (2%, 58 mi), Martinsville (2%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Danville walkable?
Danville is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Danville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Danville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Danville
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.