Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Richlands trail those of 97% of U.S. towns
30.2% of residents are in poverty, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. The two grades for Richlands are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers, against 18% across Virginia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Richlands and work: the main findings
Richlands trades workers with the towns around it
Richlands has about as many jobs (2,010) as working residents (1,892), but they are mostly different people: 1,628 residents leave for work each day while 1,746 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Richlands are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Richlands than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Richlands fell from 2,924 in 2013 to 2,010 in 2023, −31%. 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 ↓
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’s behind Richlands’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Richlands is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #253 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Richlands’ grade up (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($37,154, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Richlands could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The daily flow of workers through Richlands
On a workday 1,628 residents head out to work, 264 work right here, and 1,746 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.
What work there is in Richlands: 2,010 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Richlands, 2013 → 2023: 2,924 → 2,010. 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 Richlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Richlands’ residents
Where Richlands clocks in
8% 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.
How long Richlands spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Richlands workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,294 commuters (the 8% 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.
How far it is to work from Richlands
About 25% 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.
For most of Richlands, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Richlands is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #203 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Richlands 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 1,403 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). 10.6% of Richlands households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Richlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Richlands compares with U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | South Run VA | 6,600 | $250K | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,598 | Hazlehurst GA | 4,172 | $39K | 28.2% | 6.3% | 21% | D |
| 3,599 | Du Quoin IL | 5,569 | $54K | 29.6% | 11.1% | 21% | D |
| 3,600 | Richlands VA | 5,051 | $37K | 30.2% | 5.5% | 14% | D |
| 3,601 | Calipatria CA | 6,012 | $53K | 25.5% | 7.3% | 5% | D |
| 3,602 | Dawson GA | 4,131 | $29K | 53.8% | 6.0% | 19% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | 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 Richlands, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
How Richlands compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Cedar Bluff (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Richlands workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richlands | – | D | C+ | 28 min | $37,154 |
| Raven | under 1% | D | B− | 27 min | $52,619 |
| Doran | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Cedar Bluff | 3% | D− | C− | 24 min | $37,170 |
Same-state neighbors only. Doran: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Richlands’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 Richlands: questions
What is the median household income in Richlands?
$37,154 (±$6,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Richlands?
30.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Richlands?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Richlands work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tazewell (8%, 17 mi), Claypool Hill (8%, 4 mi), Lebanon (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Richlands walkable?
Richlands is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Richlands without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Richlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Richlands
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.