Locust Grove-Luttrell, R.E. Farmstead · Photo: self · CC BY 3.0Where Opal earns its living
There are 412 jobs in Opal, and 389 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% work in Opal itself; outside it, Warrenton draws the most (11%, 7 miles). Commuters spend 41 minutes getting to work on average; Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Opal stands out on work
Opal workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 41 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 314 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Opal than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Opal fell from 573 in 2013 to 412 in 2023, −28%. 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 ↓
Opal makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Opal are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Opal residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
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 389 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The daily trip from Opal: about 41 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Opal workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 486 commuters (the 15% 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.
36% of the jobs in Opal make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Opal, 2013 → 2023: 573 → 412. 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 Opal’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Opal
On a workday 382 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 405 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 (1.06 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.
Where Opal goes to work
Where Opal clocks in
11% of workers
4% 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.
Where in the region Opal works
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 Opal: questions
What is the median household income in Opal?
$181,932 (±$100,014) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Opal?
2.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Opal?
41 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Opal work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warrenton (11%, 7 mi), Chantilly (4%, 27 mi), Washington (3%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Opal without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Opal, from the people who make the trip.
More of Opal
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.