Photo: self · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Melfa works elsewhere
Working from home is the commute for 9% of workers, where Virginia as a whole has 18%. There are 40 jobs in Melfa, and 154 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Melfa itself; outside it, Accomac draws the most (8%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Melfa
On a workday 154 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 290 people are in Melfa on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Melfa: the destinations
Where Melfa clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Melfa makes things: 48% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melfa, 2013 → 2023: 186 → 40. 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 Melfa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Melfa takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Melfa workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 152 commuters (the 9% 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 Melfa commutes
About 45% 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.
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 Melfa: questions
What is the median household income in Melfa?
$28,958 (±$11,786) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melfa?
24.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melfa?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melfa work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Accomac (8%, 6 mi), Exmore (7%, 10 mi), Norfolk (5%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Melfa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melfa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melfa
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.