Photo: Jjmusgrove · CC BY-SA 3.0At 5.0%, unemployment in Laurel is higher than in 61% of U.S. towns
Laurel grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 4% work in Laurel; the top destination outside it is Richmond (20%, 7 miles). The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Laurel: the figures worth knowing
Laurel draws workers from far and wide
The 11,414 jobs in Laurel are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 29%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Laurel and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Laurel residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Laurel come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Laurel residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
What’s behind Laurel’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Laurel is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #159 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Laurel’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Laurel could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Laurel goes to work
Where Laurel clocks in
20% of workers
5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Laurel
About 16% 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 many people are in Laurel by day
On a workday 7,615 residents head out to work, 288 work right here, and 11,126 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Laurel on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).
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 11,414 jobs based in Laurel
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 11,628 → 11,414. 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 Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Laurel’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laurel workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,477 commuters (the 16% 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.
Most of Laurel commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Laurel is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #147 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 10,061 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 43% 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 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 4.6% of Laurel households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Laurel’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Laurel is 1,005th of 1,915 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Rose Hill VA | 21,066 | $175K | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,003 | Antwerp Township MI | 13,832 | $80K | 8.9% | 3.6% | 16% | B |
| 1,004 | Four Square Mile CO | 23,024 | $81K | 14.8% | 3.9% | 3% | B |
| 1,005 | Laurel VA | 18,721 | $74K | 8.4% | 5.0% | 4% | B |
| 1,006 | Rathdrum ID | 13,227 | $87K | 12.4% | 1.6% | 9% | B |
| 1,007 | Willoughby OH | 24,234 | $71K | 9.5% | 4.1% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Laurel, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Laurel and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lakeside (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Laurel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel | – | B | B+ | 24 min | $73,609 |
| Lakeside | 1% | B+ | B | 20 min | $72,032 |
| Glen Allen | 1% | A | C+ | 25 min | $92,723 |
| Dumbarton | under 2% | B+ | A | 23 min | $60,169 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Laurel’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 Laurel: questions
What is the median household income in Laurel?
$73,609 (±$9,422) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laurel?
8.4%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laurel?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laurel work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (20%, 7 mi), Innsbrook (5%, 4 mi), Short Pump (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Laurel walkable?
Laurel is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laurel without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laurel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laurel
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.