Photo: Sleddog116 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Martinsville earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 23.5% of residents, next to 9.9% across Virginia. The two grades for Martinsville are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers; Virginia has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Martinsville, in a few figures
No single place dominates Martinsville’s commute
The biggest draw, Danville, gets only 6% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Martinsville residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Martinsville draws workers from far and wide
The 7,760 jobs in Martinsville are filled from a wide area. Martinsville’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 17%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Martinsville are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Martinsville workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Martinsville’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Martinsville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Martinsville is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #221 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Martinsville’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,727, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Martinsville could be anywhere from C− to C+.
6% of working residents work in Danville
Where Martinsville clocks in
6% 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.
From Martinsville, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Martinsville workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,952 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.
The 7,760 jobs based in Martinsville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Martinsville, 2014 → 2024: 8,335 → 7,760. 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 Martinsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Martinsville
On a workday 3,906 residents head out to work, 1,303 work right here, and 6,457 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Martinsville on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Half of Martinsville commutes less than 5 miles
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Martinsville walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Martinsville is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #221 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 5,504 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). 9.7% of Martinsville households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Martinsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Martinsville is 1,785th among 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Wakefield VA | 11,930 | $238K | 1.8% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Franconia VA | 18,335 | $152K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,783 | Somerset Township PA | 11,645 | $63K | 11.7% | 5.2% | 19% | C |
| 1,784 | Dumas TX | 14,862 | $64K | 20.2% | 3.4% | 27% | C |
| 1,785 | Martinsville VA | 13,849 | $47K | 23.5% | 2.9% | 25% | C |
| 1,786 | Diamond Springs CA | 10,927 | $77K | 15.6% | 7.7% | 14% | C |
| 1,787 | Worth IL | 10,696 | $56K | 21.1% | 8.5% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Martinsville, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work in the towns next to Martinsville
The biggest share goes to Villa Heights (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Martinsville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martinsville | – | C | C | 21 min | $46,727 |
| Villa Heights | 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Villa Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Martinsville’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 Martinsville: questions
What is the median household income in Martinsville?
$46,727 (±$5,215) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Martinsville?
23.5%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Martinsville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Martinsville work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville (6%, 26 mi), Collinsville (6%, 4 mi), Roanoke (3%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Martinsville walkable?
Martinsville is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Martinsville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Martinsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Martinsville
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.