Photo: Ser_Amantio_di_Nicolao · CC BY-SA 3.0Hardly anyone in Lake Caroline is out of work
1% of workers work from home; Virginia has 18%. For jobs and income Lake Caroline is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (D). Hardly any stay in Lake Caroline for work; outside it, Fredericksburg is the main destination (6%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lake Caroline apart
Lake Caroline workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 50 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 383 hours of commuting, 176 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Lake Caroline is a place people come home to
There are 43 jobs based in Lake Caroline, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lake Caroline has about 1,600 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Lake Caroline workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Lake Caroline’s grade explained
Unemployment holds Lake Caroline’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Caroline could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Commuting from Lake Caroline: about 50 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Caroline workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,545 commuters (the 1% 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 works in Lake Caroline, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,291 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 39 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Lake Caroline on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.03 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.
Commuting out of Lake Caroline: the destinations
Where Lake Caroline clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
2% 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.
In Lake Caroline, services account for most jobs
43 jobs are based in Lake Caroline.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Caroline, 2013 → 2023: 265 → 43. 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 Lake Caroline’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Lake Caroline’s workers travel
About 29% 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.
Lake Caroline is a driving town
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 1,556 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). 3.3% of Lake Caroline households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Caroline’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lake Caroline is 2,546th of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,544 | Provincetown MA | 3,729 | $137K | 6.2% | 7.2% | 48% | B− |
| 2,545 | Lake California CA | 3,808 | $92K | 9.7% | 4.6% | 1% | B− |
| 2,546 | Lake Caroline VA | 2,862 | $73K | 23.1% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| 2,547 | Pawnee IL | 2,686 | $81K | 14.3% | 4.2% | 7% | B− |
| 2,548 | Pickens SC | 3,188 | $55K | 16.7% | 1.3% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Lake Caroline, 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 Lake Caroline: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Caroline?
$73,000 (±$8,669) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Caroline?
23.1%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Caroline?
50 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Caroline work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fredericksburg (6%, 22 mi), Richmond (6%, 32 mi), Ashland (2%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake Caroline walkable?
Lake Caroline is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Caroline without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Caroline, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Caroline
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.