Bentivar · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHampden-Sydney has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Hampden-Sydney are A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 6% stay in Hampden-Sydney for work; outside it, Farmville is the main destination (14%, 6 miles). 24% of workers have no commute at all (Virginia 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hampden-Sydney in brief
Jobs & income in Hampden-Sydney: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Hampden-Sydney is better than 77% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Hampden-Sydney’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Hampden-Sydney’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, Hampden-Sydney could be anywhere from C to A−.
Miles to work from Hampden-Sydney
About 44% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How many people are in Hampden-Sydney by day
On a workday 292 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 313 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 (1.07 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Hampden-Sydney’s residents
Where Hampden-Sydney clocks in
14% of workers
7% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Hampden-Sydney
330 jobs are based in Hampden-Sydney.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampden-Sydney, 2014 → 2024: 405 → 330. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hampden-Sydney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Hampden-Sydney
of Hampden-Sydney workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 250 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.
In Hampden-Sydney, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hampden-Sydney is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 24.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 328 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). 0.0% of Hampden-Sydney households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hampden-Sydney’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Hampden-Sydney is 871st of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 869 | Roland IA | 1,344 | $79K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A− |
| 870 | Churchville NY | 2,134 | $96K | 5.1% | 4.8% | 1% | A− |
| 871 | Hampden-Sydney VA | 1,769 | $155K | 0.0% | 3.6% | 6% | A− |
| 872 | Hardwick Township NJ | 1,635 | $125K | 5.3% | 7.8% | 2% | A− |
| 873 | Cooperstown WI | 1,292 | $88K | 4.5% | 2.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Hampden-Sydney, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Hampden-Sydney: questions
What is the median household income in Hampden-Sydney?
$154,565 (±$116,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampden-Sydney?
0.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Hampden-Sydney work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmville (14%, 6 mi), Richmond (7%, 58 mi), Lynchburg (6%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hampden-Sydney walkable?
Hampden-Sydney is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampden-Sydney without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampden-Sydney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampden-Sydney
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.