Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Pennington Gap earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
The poverty rate is 56.8%, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. Measured by household income, Pennington Gap is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. For jobs and income Pennington Gap is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Pennington Gap
Fewer than half of Pennington Gap workers earn over $40,000 a year
37% of Pennington Gap’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 15% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Pennington Gap than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Pennington Gap fell from 1,161 in 2013 to 754 in 2023, −35%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 538 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Pennington Gap’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Pennington Gap is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Pennington Gap’s grade.
Unemployment (22.4%) is left out: Pennington Gap’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, Pennington Gap stays D−.
The kinds of work in Pennington Gap
754 jobs are based in Pennington Gap.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pennington Gap, 2013 → 2023: 1,161 → 754. 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 Pennington Gap’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Pennington Gap commutes
About 32% 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.
How many people are in Pennington Gap by day
On a workday 481 residents head out to work, 57 work right here, and 697 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Pennington Gap on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 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.
6% of working residents work in Big Stone Gap
Where Pennington Gap clocks in
6% 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.
About 31 minutes to work from Pennington Gap
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pennington Gap workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 276 commuters (the 9% 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.
Getting around Pennington Gap: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.7% across Virginia, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 303 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 23.5% of Pennington Gap households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pennington Gap’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Pennington Gap compares with U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Bull Run Mountain Estates VA | 1,827 | $250K | 1.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,715 | Drain OR | 1,190 | $46K | 35.3% | 7.1% | 8% | D− |
| 5,716 | Morton TX | 1,689 | $38K | 26.7% | 5.3% | 21% | D− |
| 5,717 | Pennington Gap VA | 1,568 | $22K | 56.8% | 22.4% | 11% | D− |
| 5,718 | Bylas AZ | 1,551 | $29K | 46.6% | 27.3% | <1% | D− |
| 5,719 | Kaibito AZ | 1,661 | $47K | 29.1% | 10.0% | 0% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pennington Gap, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
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 Pennington Gap: questions
What is the median household income in Pennington Gap?
$21,633 (±$6,970) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pennington Gap?
56.8%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pennington Gap?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pennington Gap work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Big Stone Gap (6%, 16 mi), Kingsport (4%, 32 mi), Johnson City (3%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pennington Gap walkable?
Pennington Gap is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pennington Gap without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pennington Gap, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pennington Gap
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.