Innovation has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Innovation is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 11.9%, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. For jobs and income Innovation is better than 36% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Innovation in brief
Innovation fills up on a workday
Innovation has 5,807 jobs, 12.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,400 people are in town, 6 times the 1,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Innovation draws workers from far and wide
The 5,807 jobs in Innovation are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 28%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Innovation pay over $40,000 a year
80% of the jobs based in Innovation pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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 461 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Innovation’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Innovation’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($31,943, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (14.2%) is left out: Innovation’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, Innovation could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily commute in and out of Innovation
On a workday 449 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 5,795 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,400 people are in Innovation on a workday afternoon, 517% more than live here.
12.6 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.
Where the people who work in Innovation live
Where Innovation clocks in
6% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 47% of the jobs in Innovation
5,807 jobs are based in Innovation.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Innovation, 2013 → 2023: 5,127 → 5,807. 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 Innovation’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Innovation
of Innovation workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 360 commuters (the 7% 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 Innovation
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.
Most of Innovation commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 386 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 0.0% of Innovation households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Innovation’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Innovation is 1,488th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Ruckersville VA | 1,399 | $102K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,486 | Asylum Township PA | 1,000 | $73K | 7.7% | 0.4% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,487 | Orange VT | 1,071 | $71K | 7.6% | 4.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,488 | Innovation VA | 1,034 | $32K | 11.9% | 14.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,489 | Calmar IA | 1,098 | $93K | 12.5% | 0.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,490 | Mantachie MS | 1,143 | $66K | 13.0% | 4.1% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Innovation, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Innovation and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Manassas (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Innovation workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovation | – | C+ | B+ | — | $31,943 |
| Linton Hall | under 3% | A | B+ | 38 min | $178,915 |
| Manassas | 5% | A− | A | 32 min | $113,590 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Innovation’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 Innovation: questions
What is the median household income in Innovation?
$31,943 (±$18,325) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Innovation?
11.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Innovation work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chantilly (6%, 10 mi), Manassas (5%, 2 mi), Arlington (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Innovation walkable?
Innovation is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Innovation without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Innovation, from the people who make the trip.
More of Innovation
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.