Azurest South · Photo: AJ Belongia · CC BY-SA 3.0At 16.6%, unemployment in Ettrick is among the highest of any U.S. town
Only 2% stay in Ettrick for work; outside it, Richmond is the main destination (9%, 20 miles). Jobs and income earn Ettrick C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Ettrick is behind 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Ettrick stands out on work
Nearly all the work in Ettrick is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Ettrick are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker, and quicker than any town next door (26 to 33 minutes). 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 Ettrick
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ettrick is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #225 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Ettrick’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ettrick could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Services make up most of the work in Ettrick
1,364 jobs are based in Ettrick.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ettrick, 2013 → 2023: 1,635 → 1,364. 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 Ettrick’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Ettrick spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ettrick workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,241 commuters (the 12% 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.
Who commutes out of Ettrick, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,099 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 1,326 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Ettrick on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.64 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.
Out of Ettrick to work: where people go
Where Ettrick clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Ettrick’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 Ettrick, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ettrick is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #123 of 253 in Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,533 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 11.3% of Ettrick households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Ettrick’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,100 to 8,000, Ettrick ranks 2,691st of 3,494 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 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,689 | Norfolk NY | 4,313 | $68K | 13.4% | 3.8% | 9% | C |
| 2,690 | Perry Township OH | 6,243 | $56K | 24.2% | 2.5% | 8% | C |
| 2,691 | Ettrick VA | 5,910 | $58K | 12.9% | 16.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,692 | Garden City Township KS | 5,667 | $84K | 12.9% | 9.5% | 10% | C |
| 2,693 | Colonial Beach VA | 4,151 | $61K | 24.4% | 1.3% | 10% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,494 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Ettrick, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work next door: 11% of Ettrick’s workers
The biggest share goes to Petersburg (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ettrick workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ettrick | – | C | B+ | 21 min | $58,137 |
| Petersburg | 7% | C− | A− | 26 min | $50,698 |
| Colonial Heights | 4% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $76,505 |
| Matoaca | under 2% | C | D | 33 min | $70,174 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ettrick’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 Ettrick: questions
What is the median household income in Ettrick?
$58,137 (±$11,518) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ettrick?
12.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ettrick?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ettrick work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (9%, 20 mi), Petersburg (7%, 4 mi), Colonial Heights (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ettrick walkable?
Ettrick is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ettrick without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ettrick, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ettrick
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.