Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Kilmarnock earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
23.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.9% across Virginia. The two grades for Kilmarnock are D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in seven stay in Kilmarnock for work; outside it, Irvington is the main destination (4%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Kilmarnock at work: what stands out
Kilmarnock has far more jobs than workers
Kilmarnock has 1,989 jobs, 3.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,800 people are in town, 94% more than the 1,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Kilmarnock are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 100 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 619 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Kilmarnock’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Kilmarnock is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Kilmarnock’s grade.
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Kilmarnock’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, Kilmarnock could be anywhere from D− to D.
Who commutes out of Kilmarnock, and who commutes in
On a workday 518 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 1,888 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Kilmarnock on a workday afternoon, 94% more than live here.
3.2 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.
How far Kilmarnock’s workers travel
About 40% 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.
About 14 minutes to work from Kilmarnock
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kilmarnock workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 380 commuters (the 12% 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.
Who travels to work in Kilmarnock, and from where
Where Kilmarnock clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
The 1,989 jobs based in Kilmarnock
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kilmarnock, 2013 → 2023: 1,507 → 1,989. 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 Kilmarnock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kilmarnock is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kilmarnock is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 432 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). 13.1% of Kilmarnock households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kilmarnock’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Kilmarnock sits among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,920 | Naples TX | 1,409 | $35K | 25.7% | 11.3% | 5% | D− |
| 5,921 | Newton TX | 1,595 | $56K | 25.4% | 9.7% | 10% | D− |
| 5,922 | Kilmarnock VA | 1,457 | $40K | 23.1% | 2.8% | 16% | D− |
| 5,923 | Osage Township MO | 1,660 | $52K | 25.5% | 6.3% | 13% | D− |
| 5,924 | Minorca LA | 1,430 | $36K | 31.7% | 6.6% | 7% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Kilmarnock, 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 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 Kilmarnock: questions
What is the median household income in Kilmarnock?
$40,234 (±$11,846) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kilmarnock?
23.1%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kilmarnock?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kilmarnock work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Irvington (4%, 4 mi), Newport News (3%, 45 mi), Richmond (3%, 61 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kilmarnock walkable?
Kilmarnock is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kilmarnock without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kilmarnock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kilmarnock
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.