Monticello · Photo: YF12s · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Pantops have higher incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Pantops grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. The poverty rate is 3.5%, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 56.3 in Arlington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Pantops stands out on work
Pantops has far more jobs than workers
Pantops has 5,753 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,500 people are in town, 83% more than the 4,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
Pantops draws workers from far and wide
The 5,753 jobs in Pantops are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 20%; the other 78% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Pantops are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Pantops residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Pantops’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pantops is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #56 of 253 in Virginia. Household income is its strongest input ($127,552, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pantops could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who works in Pantops, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,744 residents head out to work, 127 work right here, and 5,626 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Pantops on a workday afternoon, 83% more than live here.
3.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where the people who work in Pantops live
Where Pantops clocks in
25% 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.
Time on the road from Pantops: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pantops workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,768 commuters (the 25% 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.
The distance from Pantops to work
About 23% 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.
In Pantops, services account for most jobs
5,753 jobs are based in Pantops.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pantops, 2013 → 2023: 6,658 → 5,753. 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 Pantops’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Pantops
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pantops is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #84 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,355 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 7.6% of Pantops households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pantops’ commuters take a bus or train.
219th of 3,798: where Pantops ranks among U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Navy VA | 3,839 | $239K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Crosspointe VA | 5,669 | $250K | 3.7% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Bolton CT | 4,875 | $126K | 7.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| 218 | Eucalyptus Hills CA | 5,840 | $144K | 3.3% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| 219 | Pantops VA | 4,665 | $128K | 3.5% | 2.4% | 7% | A |
| 220 | Erin WI | 3,835 | $111K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 5% | A |
| 221 | Maple Heights-Lake Desire WA | 4,113 | $143K | 6.0% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pantops, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door is work for 25% of Pantops
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pantops workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pantops | – | A | A | 19 min | $127,552 |
| Charlottesville | 25% | B+ | A+ | 17 min | $74,824 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Charlottesville. Darker towns draw more of Pantops’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Pantops: questions
What is the median household income in Pantops?
$127,552 (±$23,801) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pantops?
3.5%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pantops?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pantops work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlottesville (25%, 2 mi), University of Virginia (16%, 4 mi), Rio (2%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pantops walkable?
Pantops is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pantops without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pantops, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pantops
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.