Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Manassas top those of 85% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 7.7% of residents (Virginia 9.9%). The two grades for Manassas are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 56.3 in Arlington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Manassas and work: the main findings
Manassas trades workers with the towns around it
Manassas has about as many jobs (20,697) as working residents (18,400), but they are mostly different people: 16,333 residents leave for work each day while 18,630 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Manassas are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Manassas’ commute
The biggest draw, Chantilly, gets only 4% of working residents, and 64% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Manassas residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Manassas draws workers from far and wide
The 20,697 jobs in Manassas are filled from a wide area. Manassas’ own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 22%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Manassas workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
The four measures behind Manassas’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Manassas is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #103 of 253 in Virginia. Household income is its strongest input ($113,590, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, 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, Manassas could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Manassas on a workday afternoon
On a workday 16,333 residents head out to work, 2,067 work right here, and 18,630 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 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.
Where Manassas goes to work
Where Manassas clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
About 32 minutes to work from Manassas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Manassas workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19,413 commuters (the 12% 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.
66% of the jobs in Manassas pay over $3,333 a month
20,697 jobs are based in Manassas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Manassas, 2013 → 2023: 18,945 → 20,697. 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 Manassas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Manassas commutes
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.
Manassas is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Manassas is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #79 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.9% 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 22,181 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 19% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 4.4% of Manassas households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Manassas’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000, Manassas ranks 305th of 1,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Ashburn VA | 46,026 | $155K | 4.0% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | The Acreage FL | 40,843 | $109K | 4.6% | 3.7% | 5% | A− |
| 304 | Lombard IL | 44,399 | $100K | 7.2% | 4.4% | 7% | A− |
| 305 | Manassas VA | 44,332 | $114K | 7.7% | 3.8% | 11% | A− |
| 306 | Nunda Township IL | 39,031 | $110K | 5.1% | 4.5% | 10% | A− |
| 307 | Clinton MD | 38,376 | $125K | 7.7% | 4.7% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Manassas, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
The towns around Manassas
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Manassas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manassas | – | A− | A | 32 min | $113,590 |
| Buckhall | under 2% | A | B+ | 39 min | $180,021 |
| Loch Lomond | under 2% | A− | A− | 32 min | $113,790 |
| Innovation | under 2% | C+ | B+ | — | $31,943 |
| Manassas Park | under 2% | A− | A | 37 min | $103,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Manassas’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 Manassas: questions
What is the median household income in Manassas?
$113,590 (±$8,224) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Manassas?
7.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Manassas?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Manassas work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chantilly (4%, 10 mi), Washington (4%, 27 mi), Arlington (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Manassas walkable?
Manassas is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Manassas without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 19% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Manassas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Manassas
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.