Photo: Mojo Hand · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Glen Allen earn more than those in 71% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Glen Allen; the top destination outside it is Richmond (19%, 9 miles). 3.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. Glen Allen grades A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Glen Allen: the gist
Glen Allen and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Glen Allen residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Glen Allen come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Glen Allen residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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 Glen Allen
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Glen Allen is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #88 of 253 in Virginia. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Glen Allen could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The places Glen Allen commutes to
Where Glen Allen clocks in
19% of workers
5% 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.
Miles to work from Glen Allen
About 15% 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.
Glen Allen on a workday afternoon
On a workday 7,763 residents head out to work, 216 work right here, and 4,712 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Glen Allen on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
What the 4,928 jobs in Glen Allen are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Glen Allen, 2013 → 2023: 5,425 → 4,928. 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 Glen Allen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Glen Allen spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Glen Allen workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,792 commuters (the 24% 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.
Driving is how Glen Allen gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Glen Allen is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #207 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 8,993 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). 5.0% of Glen Allen households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Glen Allen’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Glen Allen ranks: 484th of 2,103 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Rose Hill VA | 21,066 | $175K | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 482 | Big Lake MN | 12,929 | $121K | 5.6% | 3.2% | 7% | A |
| 483 | Macedonia OH | 12,147 | $101K | 4.1% | 4.4% | 5% | A |
| 484 | Glen Allen VA | 17,551 | $93K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 3% | A |
| 485 | Dyer IN | 16,273 | $107K | 6.2% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 486 | Aberdeen Township NJ | 19,535 | $122K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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 Glen Allen, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Glen Allen and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Glen Allen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Allen | – | A | C+ | 25 min | $92,723 |
| Laurel | 3% | B | B+ | 24 min | $73,609 |
| Chamberlayne | under 2% | A− | C− | 23 min | $97,544 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Laurel. Darker towns draw more of Glen Allen’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 Glen Allen: questions
What is the median household income in Glen Allen?
$92,723 (±$8,645) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Glen Allen?
3.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Glen Allen?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Glen Allen work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (19%, 9 mi), Innsbrook (5%, 5 mi), Laurel (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Glen Allen walkable?
Glen Allen is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Glen Allen without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Glen Allen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Glen Allen
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.