Photo: Luray24 · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Luray (9.4%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
For 10% of workers, the job is at home, against 18% across Virginia. Luray grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Luray
No single place dominates Luray’s commute
The biggest draw, Harrisonburg, gets only 4% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Luray residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Luray gains people on a workday
About 5,800 people are in Luray on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 4,800 who live here: 2,600 come in to work and 1,600 head out. Day and night ↓
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.
Where Luray’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Luray is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #250 of 253 in Virginia. The poverty rate holds Luray’s grade up (12.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Luray could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Where Luray goes to work
Where Luray clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Luray
On a workday 1,615 residents head out to work, 569 work right here, and 2,622 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in Luray on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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.
Jobs in Luray: what the 3,191 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Luray, 2013 → 2023: 3,136 → 3,191. 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 Luray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for Luray’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Luray workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,693 commuters (the 10% 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.
How many miles Luray commutes
About 28% 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.
Most trips from Luray start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Luray is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #179 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 1,872 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). 7.7% of Luray households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Luray’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500, and where Luray sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Navy VA | 3,839 | $239K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Crosspointe VA | 5,669 | $250K | 3.7% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Kings Park VA | 4,315 | $166K | 1.9% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,477 | Lincoln ME | 4,971 | $56K | 16.5% | 6.1% | 37% | D |
| 3,478 | Piney AR | 4,458 | $51K | 28.5% | 9.2% | 7% | D |
| 3,479 | Luray VA | 4,823 | $50K | 12.3% | 9.4% | 26% | D |
| 3,480 | Blakely GA | 5,156 | $50K | 26.8% | 4.2% | 24% | D |
| 3,481 | Franklinton LA | 3,576 | $34K | 20.7% | 5.8% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Luray, 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 Luray: questions
What is the median household income in Luray?
$50,150 (±$10,843) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Luray?
12.3%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Luray?
26 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Luray work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisonburg (4%, 28 mi), Winchester (4%, 38 mi), Front Royal (2%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Luray walkable?
Luray is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Luray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Luray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Luray
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.