Mount Airy · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWith 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Motley works elsewhere
Hardly any stay in Motley for work; outside it, Altavista is the main destination (23%, 5 miles). 20 jobs are based in Motley, against 255 working residents. A typical one-way commute lasts 29 minutes (Virginia 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Motley
Motley is a place people come home to
There are 20 jobs based in Motley, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Motley and Altavista trade workers both ways
Altavista is the top workplace for Motley residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Motley come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 255 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The workday shuffle in and out of Motley
On a workday 254 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Motley on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 Motley: the destinations
Where Motley clocks in
23% 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.
The kinds of work in Motley
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Motley, 2013 → 2023: 13 → 20. 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 Motley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes each way, about the VA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Motley workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 324 commuters (the 20% 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.
Motley’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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 Motley: questions
What is the median household income in Motley?
$55,529 (±$5,025) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Motley?
12.8%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Motley?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Motley work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Altavista (23%, 5 mi), Chatham (5%, 18 mi), Lynchburg (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Motley 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 Motley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Motley
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.