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CentralLancasterVAPhoto: Ser Amantio di Nicolao at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded–Not graded
Jobs & commute in Lancaster

A job hub: Lancaster has 5.5 jobs per working resident, and 219 people come in to work

Hardly any stay in Lancaster for work; outside it, Kilmarnock is the main destination (8%, 4 miles). 219 jobs are based in Lancaster, and 40 of its residents work somewhere.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

219 jobs based here
Work in town
0%
0 of 40 working residents
Day and night

A workday in Lancaster: who goes, who stays, who comes

On a workday 40 residents head out to work and none work right here.

40live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
219work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night20
Workday200
20live here− 40head out to work+ 220come in to work= 200on a workday

About 200 people are in Lancaster on a workday afternoon, 895% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
5.48jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

Where Lancaster’s workers come from

Washington: 1 workers live here (<1%)GlenardenHyattsvilleVanceboro: 1 workers live here (<1%)Dickson City: 1 workers live here (<1%)Scranton: 1 workers live here (<1%)White Stone: 4 workers live here (2%)IrvingtonKilmarnock: 11 workers live here (5%)West Point: 4 workers live here (2%)SmithfieldAlexandriaPortsmouthVirginia BeachChesapeake: 5 workers live here (2%)RichmondHampton: 2 workers live here (1%)Norfolk: 4 workers live here (2%)LancasterKilmarnockChesapeakeWhite StoneWest PointNorfolkHamptonLancaster
1
Kilmarnock4.5 mi away
5%11
2
Chesapeake75.1 mi away
2%5
3
White Stone8.5 mi away
2%4
4
West Point24.1 mi away
2%4
5
Norfolk58.9 mi away
2%4
6
Hampton49.9 mi away
1%2
7
Washington, DC84.8 mi away
<1%1
8
Vanceboro, NC174.3 mi away
<1%1
9
Dickson City, PA259.8 mi away
<1%1
10
Scranton, PA255.2 mi away
<1%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
84%185
The top trips

Where Lancaster clocks in

8% of workers
4.5 mi awayKilmarnock3 Lancaster residents work here · Jobs & commute →
8% of workers
71.6 mi awayVirginia Beach3 Lancaster residents work here · Jobs & commute →
8% of workers
58.4 mi awayRichmond3 Lancaster residents work here · Jobs & commute →

Lines 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 jobs

Mostly health care, schools and offices in Lancaster

Jobs based in LancasterJobs Lancaster residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms10%13%
Trade, transport & utilities1%20%
Services: health, schools, offices89%68%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%23%
$1,251–$3,333 a month26%28%
Over $3,333 a month59%50%

Who does it

29 or younger10%38%
30 to 5446%40%
55 and older44%23%
+20%

Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 183 → 219. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

How far

Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lancaster

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miKilmarnock: 8% · 4.5 miVirginia Beach: 8% · 71.6 miRichmond: 8% · 58.4 miWashington: 5% · 84.8 miPortsmouth: 5% · 62.1 miGlenarden: 3% · 83.8 miHyattsville: 3% · 87.4 miIrvington: 3% · 6.9 miSmithfield: 3% · 55.1 miAlexandria: 3% · 80.8 miKilmarnock 8%Virginia Beach 8%Richmond 8%Washington 5%Portsmouth 5%Lancaster
LancasterTop destinations (size = commuters)
23%Under 10 mi9 residents
10%10–24 mi4 residents
0%25–50 mi0 residents
68%Over 50 mi27 residents

About 68% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Lancaster: questions

Where do people who live in Lancaster work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kilmarnock (8%, 4 mi), Virginia Beach (8%, 72 mi), Richmond (8%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Lancaster

Lancaster home →
$339Ktypical home
HousingLive where you work?Home values, rent & the market in Lancaster
HandbookGetting around LancasterRoads, buses, parking and the basics
shortest commutes
RankingsTop towns in VAShortest commutes, work from home & more

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.