Bellevue Rural Historic District (Additional Documentation) · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAbout two in five of Forest’s working residents commute to Lynchburg
About one in ten work in Forest; the top destination outside it is Lynchburg (40%, 5 miles). For jobs and income Forest is better than 59% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (B−). Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Forest
The better-paid jobs are outside Forest
59% of Forest residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Forest pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Forest are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Forest draws workers from far and wide
The 5,714 jobs in Forest are filled from a wide area. Forest’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 38%; the other 55% 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.
Jobs & income in Forest: the grade in detail
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Forest’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
What Forest’s employers do
5,714 jobs are based in Forest.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest, 2013 → 2023: 5,311 → 5,714. 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 Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Forest’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,333 commuters (the 16% 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 Forest’s working residents head each day
Where Forest clocks in
6% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Forest
On a workday 4,102 residents head out to work, 422 work right here, and 5,292 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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.
How far Forest goes to work
About 18% 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 Forest, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 6,319 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 34% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 2.6% of Forest households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forest’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, Forest ranks 1,330th of 2,526 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Belmont VA | 9,729 | $243K | 2.1% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 14 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,328 | Fairview Heights IL | 16,175 | $81K | 8.8% | 6.4% | 9% | B |
| 1,329 | Discovery Bay CA | 14,911 | $147K | 7.4% | 8.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,330 | Forest VA | 13,430 | $82K | 9.6% | 3.5% | 9% | B |
| 1,331 | Blackhawk Township IL | 9,423 | $65K | 12.3% | 2.2% | 14% | B |
| 1,332 | Midlothian IL | 13,841 | $70K | 9.8% | 5.3% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Forest, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
43% of Forest works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | – | B | B− | 22 min | $81,552 |
| Lynchburg | 40% | C | A+ | 17 min | $57,947 |
| Timberlake | 3% | B | B | 20 min | $75,657 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lynchburg. Darker towns draw more of Forest’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 Forest: questions
What is the median household income in Forest?
$81,552 (±$7,145) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest?
9.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest work?
9% work in town.
Is Forest walkable?
Forest is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 34% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest
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.