Photo: User:AlbertHerring · CC BY 3.0Occoquan’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A+: among the top U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability A: more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 36 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Occoquan; the top destination outside it is Washington (7%, 20 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.7 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 56.3 in Arlington (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Occoquan
The better-paid jobs are outside Occoquan
70% of Occoquan residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Occoquan pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Occoquan pay little
35% of the jobs based in Occoquan pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 41% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Occoquan workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 69 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; with 468 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Occoquan’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Occoquan is among the top U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Occoquan’s grade. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (5.9%) is left out: Occoquan’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Occoquan stays A+.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
428 jobs are based in Occoquan. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Occoquan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Occoquan, 2013 → 2023: 213 → 428. 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 36 minutes each way, longer than most of Virginia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Occoquan workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 538 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 455 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 415 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 (0.91 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.
7% of working residents work in Washington
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Occoquan clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Occoquan commutes less than 15 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Occoquan is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Occoquan is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Occoquan near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 656 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 81% 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 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 4.8% of Occoquan households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Occoquan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Occoquan is 16th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Occoquan, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 16 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 17 | Yarrow Point WA | 1,143 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 0% | A+ |
| 18 | Woodway WA | 1,316 | $205K | 2.1% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Ruckersville VA | 1,399 | $102K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
Occoquan and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Occoquan’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Occoquan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occoquan | – | A+ | A | 36 min | $134,323 |
| Laurel Hill | under 3% | A+ | A | 31 min | $155,667 |
| Lake Ridge | under 3% | A | A− | 36 min | $127,154 |
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 Occoquan: questions
What is the median household income in Occoquan?
$134,323 (±$28,801) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Occoquan?
2.1%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Occoquan?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Occoquan work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (7%, 20 mi), Arlington (6%, 16 mi), Alexandria (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Occoquan walkable?
Occoquan is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Occoquan without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Occoquan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Occoquan
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.