Households in Lowes Island earn more than in almost any other U.S. town
Below the poverty line: 1.6% of residents, next to 9.9% across Virginia. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. For jobs and income Lowes Island is better than 97% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lowes Island, in a few figures
Home offices are common in Lowes Island
36% of Lowes Island workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Lowes Island is a place people come home to
There are 1,046 jobs based in Lowes Island, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lowes Island has about 6,600 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Three in four Lowes Island workers earn over $40,000 a year
76% of Lowes Island’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Lowes Island’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income is its strongest input ($220,833, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lowes Island could be anywhere from A to A+.
Time on the road from Lowes Island: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lowes Island workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,011 commuters (the 36% 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.
Lowes Island quiets down on a workday
On a workday 5,334 residents head out to work, 158 work right here, and 888 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Lowes Island on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.19 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 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Lowes Island: 1,046 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lowes Island, 2014 → 2024: 873 → 1,046. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lowes Island’s own residents hold wherever they work.
9% of working residents work in Tysons
Where Lowes Island clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
How far Lowes Island’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Lowes Island gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,299 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 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 0.3% of Lowes Island households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Lowes Island’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lowes Island ranks: 106th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Belmont VA | 9,729 | $243K | 2.1% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Wakefield VA | 11,930 | $238K | 1.8% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | East Pikeland Township PA | 8,654 | $147K | 0.9% | 3.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 105 | Rendon TX | 14,632 | $118K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 106 | Lowes Island VA | 11,018 | $221K | 1.6% | 3.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 107 | White Bear Township MN | 10,399 | $129K | 2.3% | 3.2% | 2% | A+ |
| 108 | Dunn Loring VA | 8,957 | $244K | 5.1% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Lowes Island, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work in the towns next to Lowes Island
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lowes Island workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowes Island | – | A+ | B+ | 31 min | $220,833 |
| Sugarland Run | under 3% | A | B+ | 28 min | $166,385 |
| Cascades | under 3% | A | A− | 28 min | $167,171 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lowes Island’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 2024, 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 Lowes Island: questions
What is the median household income in Lowes Island?
$220,833 (±$26,767) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lowes Island?
1.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lowes Island?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lowes Island work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tysons (9%, 11 mi), Reston (9%, 7 mi), Washington (6%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lowes Island walkable?
Lowes Island is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lowes Island without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lowes Island, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lowes Island
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.