Photo: Scott Harris · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Purcellville top those of 97% of U.S. towns
28% of workers work from home, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole. 4.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. Jobs and income earn Purcellville A+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Purcellville, in brief
Purcellville trades workers with the towns around it
Purcellville has about as many jobs (4,482) as working residents (4,262), but they are mostly different people: 3,898 residents leave for work each day while 4,118 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Purcellville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Purcellville’s commute
The biggest draw, Leesburg, gets only 7% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Purcellville residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
A lot of Purcellville works from home
28% of Purcellville workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Purcellville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Purcellville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Purcellville is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #52 of 253 in Virginia. Household income is its strongest input ($165,121, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% 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, Purcellville could be anywhere from A to A+.
How a workday changes Purcellville
On a workday 3,898 residents head out to work, 364 work right here, and 4,118 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 (1.05 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 Leesburg
Where Purcellville clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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 trip to work from Purcellville: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Purcellville workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,536 commuters (the 28% 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 4,482 jobs based in Purcellville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Purcellville, 2013 → 2023: 3,744 → 4,482. 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 Purcellville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Purcellville’s workers travel
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Purcellville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Purcellville is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #58 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Purcellville 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 4,898 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.4% of Purcellville households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Purcellville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Purcellville ranks: 217th of 2,907 U.S. towns of 6,200 to 12,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 4 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Cherry Hills Village CO | 6,389 | $250K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 5% | A+ |
| 216 | Woods Cross UT | 11,429 | $121K | 4.8% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| 217 | Purcellville VA | 8,890 | $165K | 4.6% | 1.4% | 9% | A+ |
| 218 | Bern Township PA | 6,780 | $118K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 219 | Allendale NJ | 7,116 | $160K | 3.7% | 4.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Purcellville, 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 Purcellville: questions
What is the median household income in Purcellville?
$165,121 (±$14,354) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Purcellville?
4.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Purcellville?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Purcellville work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Leesburg (7%, 8 mi), Reston (5%, 23 mi), Ashburn (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Purcellville walkable?
Purcellville is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Purcellville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Purcellville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Purcellville
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.