Earhart House · Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Merrimac has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C+: better than 41% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #192 of 253 in Virginia.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns · #128 of 253 in Virginia.
Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 13 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). Only 1% work in Merrimac; the top destination outside it is Blacksburg (39%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Merrimac, in brief
Much of Merrimac works one town over
51% of working residents work in a town that borders Merrimac: Blacksburg (39%) and Christiansburg (12%). Next door ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Merrimac than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Merrimac fell from 518 in 2013 to 214 in 2023, −59%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Merrimac are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia 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; with 874 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Merrimac’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Merrimac is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #192 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Merrimac’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,611, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Merrimac could be anywhere from D to B+.
What the 214 jobs in Merrimac are
214 jobs are based in Merrimac. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Merrimac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merrimac, 2013 → 2023: 518 → 214. 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.
About 13 minutes each way, quicker than most of Virginia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merrimac workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 982 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Merrimac quiets down on a workday
On a workday 861 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Merrimac on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.24 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 2023, primary jobs.
39% of working residents work in Blacksburg
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Merrimac clocks in
39% of workers
12% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Merrimac commutes less than 4 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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 2023.
Most trips from Merrimac start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Merrimac is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #128 of 253 in Virginia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,108 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 33.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 22.7% of Merrimac households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Merrimac’s commuters take a bus or train.
Merrimac is 2,813th of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Merrimac, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,811 | Friday Harbor WA | 2,729 | $80K | 12.8% | 2.7% | 45% | C+ |
| 2,812 | Sand Creek Township IN | 2,332 | $72K | 13.1% | 4.3% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,813 | Merrimac VA | 2,733 | $54K | 12.6% | 3.2% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,814 | Slippery Rock PA | 3,551 | $52K | 33.8% | 5.6% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,815 | Schuyler NY | 3,263 | $65K | 7.8% | 6.2% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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.
51% of Merrimac works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Blacksburg (39%). Darker towns draw more of Merrimac’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Merrimac workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrimac | – | C+ | B+ | 13 min | $53,611 |
| Blacksburg | 39% | B | A+ | 15 min | $50,182 |
| Christiansburg | 12% | B | B | 18 min | $77,147 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Merrimac: questions
What is the median household income in Merrimac?
$53,611 (±$9,466) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merrimac?
12.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merrimac?
13 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merrimac work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blacksburg (39%, 2 mi), Christiansburg (12%, 4 mi), Roanoke (6%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Merrimac walkable?
Merrimac is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Merrimac without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merrimac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merrimac
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.