Green's Farm (Huntley) · Photo: James Shelton32 · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Dumbarton (1.9%) is lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.5 in Richmond. For jobs and income Dumbarton is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (A). Only 2% stay in Dumbarton for work; outside it, Richmond is the main destination (20%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dumbarton at work: what stands out
Dumbarton draws workers from far and wide
The 5,298 jobs in Dumbarton are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 27%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Dumbarton residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Dumbarton and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Dumbarton residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Dumbarton come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Dumbarton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Dumbarton went from 3,751 in 2013 to 5,298 in 2023, +41%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Dumbarton’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Dumbarton’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($60,169, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dumbarton could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Dumbarton goes to work
Where Dumbarton clocks in
20% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Dumbarton
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.
The 5,298 jobs based in Dumbarton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dumbarton, 2013 → 2023: 3,751 → 5,298. 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 Dumbarton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Dumbarton
On a workday 3,683 residents head out to work, 86 work right here, and 5,212 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,500 people are in Dumbarton on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Dumbarton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dumbarton workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,423 commuters (the 18% 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.
Dumbarton is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.4% 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 5,388 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 9.1% of Dumbarton households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Dumbarton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dumbarton is 1,275th of 3,015 U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 6 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,273 | Alta Sierra CA | 7,361 | $106K | 6.3% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,274 | Meridian CO | 5,634 | $90K | 8.8% | 5.8% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,275 | Dumbarton VA | 7,997 | $60K | 12.1% | 1.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,276 | Jonesborough TN | 6,990 | $74K | 11.7% | 1.7% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,277 | Napoleon Township MI | 6,706 | $74K | 7.9% | 2.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Dumbarton, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Dumbarton and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Laurel (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Dumbarton’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 Dumbarton: questions
What is the median household income in Dumbarton?
$60,169 (±$8,683) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dumbarton?
12.1%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dumbarton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dumbarton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (20%, 6 mi), Innsbrook (4%, 5 mi), Laurel (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dumbarton walkable?
Dumbarton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dumbarton without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dumbarton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dumbarton
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.