Town of Halifax Court House Historic District · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0A job hub: Halifax has 4.6 jobs per working resident, and 2,141 people come in to work
Halifax has 2,202 jobs; 475 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Halifax C−; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Halifax
Halifax fills up on a workday
Halifax has 2,202 jobs, 4.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,800 people are in town, more than double the 1,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Halifax and South Boston trade workers both ways
South Boston is the top workplace for Halifax residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Halifax come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Halifax are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. 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; with 475 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Halifax
On income, poverty and job access, Halifax is better than 19% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Halifax’s grade up (11.9%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($55,792, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.2%) is left out: Halifax’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Halifax could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who leaves Halifax for work, and who comes in
On a workday 414 residents head out to work and 61 work right here.
About 2,800 people are in Halifax on a workday afternoon, 158% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Halifax, and from where
Where Halifax clocks in
19% of workers
5% 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.
Halifax’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Halifax workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 485 commuters (the 20% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Halifax, 2013 → 2023: 2,295 → 2,202. 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 Halifax’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Halifax
About 27% 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 Halifax is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Halifax is more walkable than 27% 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 607 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). 11.6% of Halifax households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Halifax’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Halifax is 2,606th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,604 | Wayne Township PA | 1,497 | $73K | 13.2% | 2.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,605 | Rogers TX | 1,101 | $56K | 21.3% | 3.5% | 5% | C− |
| 2,606 | Halifax VA | 1,092 | $56K | 11.9% | 6.2% | 13% | C− |
| 2,607 | Enfield Township IL | 1,120 | $53K | 8.2% | 2.9% | 4% | C− |
| 2,608 | Greenwood Township MI | 1,188 | $54K | 8.6% | 6.1% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Halifax, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Around Halifax: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Mountain Road (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Halifax workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | – | C− | C | 18 min | $55,792 |
| Mountain Road | 1% | D | D− | 19 min | $41,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Halifax’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 Halifax: questions
What is the median household income in Halifax?
$55,792 (±$11,175) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Halifax?
11.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Halifax?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Halifax work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Boston (19%, 4 mi), Riverdale (11%, 6 mi), Danville (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Halifax walkable?
Halifax is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Halifax without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Halifax, from the people who make the trip.
More of Halifax
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.