Photo: Bruce Emmerling · CC BY-SA 4.0Richmond has higher unemployment (5.7%) than 71% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes, where Virginia has 27 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Richmond C+; getting around on foot earns it A+. About one in three work in Richmond; the top destination outside it is Innsbrook (3%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Richmond in brief
No single place dominates Richmond’s commute
The biggest draw, Innsbrook, gets only 3% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Richmond residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Richmond is where the jobs are
Richmond has 162,766 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Richmond draws workers from far and wide
The 162,766 jobs in Richmond are filled from a wide area. Richmond’s own residents hold 22% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Richmond residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Richmond are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia 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.
The four measures behind Richmond’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Richmond is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #194 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Richmond’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Richmond could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Commuting in to Richmond: where workers come from
Where Richmond clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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 a workday changes Richmond
On a workday 63,545 residents head out to work, 35,050 work right here, and 127,716 people come in from elsewhere.
About 301,000 people are in Richmond on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.7 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.
How far it is to work from Richmond
About 18% 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.
Time on the road from Richmond: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Richmond workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 98,051 commuters (the 20% 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.
In Richmond, services account for most jobs
162,766 jobs are based in Richmond.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Richmond, 2013 → 2023: 147,089 → 162,766. 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 Richmond’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Richmond is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 121,803 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 66% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 13.0% of Richmond households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Richmond’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Richmond ranks: 78th of 109 U.S. towns of 166,000 to 320,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Arlington VA | 236,254 | $142K | 7.4% | 3.3% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Chesapeake VA | 255,332 | $95K | 9.4% | 4.9% | 31% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Norfolk VA | 231,013 | $66K | 16.5% | 5.7% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Corpus Christi TX | 317,247 | $67K | 17.1% | 5.1% | 61% | C+ |
| 77 | Greensboro NC | 308,667 | $62K | 17.0% | 5.1% | 49% | C+ |
| 78 | Richmond VA | 237,257 | $65K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 36% | C+ |
| 79 | San Bernardino CA | 222,044 | $67K | 18.6% | 6.1% | 20% | C+ |
| 80 | St. Louis MO | 278,144 | $56K | 20.6% | 5.0% | 39% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
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 Richmond, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door to Richmond
The biggest share goes to Tuckahoe (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Richmond workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | – | C+ | A+ | 22 min | $64,587 |
| Tuckahoe | 2% | A− | B+ | 21 min | $102,264 |
| Meadowbrook | under 2% | B | C | 25 min | $86,054 |
| Montrose | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 19 min | $49,550 |
| Manchester | 2% | B− | C+ | 22 min | $80,296 |
| East Highland Park | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 24 min | $64,681 |
| Bensley | under 2% | C | B+ | 25 min | $50,547 |
| Bon Air | 1% | A | B− | 25 min | $101,879 |
| Lakeside | under 2% | B+ | B | 20 min | $72,032 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Richmond’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 Richmond: questions
What is the median household income in Richmond?
$64,587 (±$1,911) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Richmond?
18.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Richmond?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Richmond work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Innsbrook (3%, 10 mi), Mechanicsville (2%, 10 mi), Short Pump (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Richmond walkable?
Richmond is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Richmond without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 66% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Richmond, from the people who make the trip.
More of Richmond
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.