Gate City Historic District · Photo: Betcantrell · CC BY-SA 3.0Gate City’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
6% of workers have no commute at all, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole. Below the poverty line: 16.7% of residents, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. Jobs and income earn Gate City D−; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Gate City
Many Gate City workers cross into Tennessee
51% of Gate City workers work outside Virginia, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Kingsport (27%), Johnson City (4%) and Bristol (2%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Gate City is where the jobs are
Gate City has 1,595 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,800 people are in town, 41% more than the 2,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Gate City is services
91% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. 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; with 780 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Gate City earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Gate City is better than 4% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Gate City’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($42,857, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.3%) is left out: Gate City’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Gate City could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Where Gate City’s workers come from
Where Gate City clocks in
27% of workers
4% 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.
A workday in Gate City: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 653 residents head out to work, 127 work right here, and 1,468 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Gate City on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
2.0 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.
Gate City is a services town
1,595 jobs are based in Gate City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gate City, 2013 → 2023: 1,746 → 1,595. 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 Gate City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Gate City: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gate City workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 821 commuters (the 6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Gate City
About 19% 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 commute in Gate City is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gate City is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 873 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). 5.4% of Gate City households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gate City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Gate City sits among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 12 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,099 | Wynnewood OK | 1,957 | $40K | 22.1% | 1.6% | 21% | D− |
| 5,100 | St. George SC | 1,868 | $33K | 28.4% | 0.6% | 15% | D− |
| 5,101 | Gate City VA | 2,000 | $43K | 16.7% | 1.3% | 16% | D− |
| 5,102 | Saltville VA | 1,760 | $49K | 25.2% | 5.9% | 11% | D− |
| 5,103 | Swanville ME | 1,435 | $52K | 23.0% | 1.4% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Gate City, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work in the towns next to Gate City
The biggest share goes to Weber City (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gate City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gate City | – | D− | D | 22 min | $42,857 |
| Weber City | 2% | D− | C | 22 min | $47,778 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gate City’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 Gate City: questions
What is the median household income in Gate City?
$42,857 (±$17,186) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gate City?
16.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gate City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gate City work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingsport (27%, 9 mi), Johnson City (4%, 24 mi), Weber City (2%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gate City walkable?
Gate City is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gate City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gate City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gate City
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.