Glennmary · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainThere are 6.7 jobs in Riverdale for every working resident, and 2,702 people commute in
Employers in Riverdale report 2,752 jobs, against 408 working residents. Measured by household income, Riverdale is behind 73% of U.S. towns. The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Riverdale and work: the main findings
Riverdale fills up on a workday
Riverdale has 2,752 jobs, 6.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,400 people are in town, 3 times the 1,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Riverdale makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Riverdale are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Riverdale residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% 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 408 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Riverdale’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Riverdale is better than 34% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Riverdale’s grade up (7.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Riverdale’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Riverdale could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who works in Riverdale, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 358 residents head out to work and 50 work right here.
About 3,400 people are in Riverdale on a workday afternoon, 218% more than live here.
6.7 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.
Riverdale makes things: 52% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riverdale, 2013 → 2023: 2,632 → 2,752. 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 Riverdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Riverdale works
About 37% 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.
Where the people who work in Riverdale live
Where Riverdale clocks in
12% of workers
5% 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.
Riverdale’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riverdale workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 255 commuters (the 16% 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 Riverdale, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riverdale is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 305 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). 5.9% of Riverdale households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Riverdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Riverdale next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500: 1,897th of 3,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Kincora VA | 1,008 | $134K | 8.8% | 6.3% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,895 | Hill NH | 1,048 | $82K | 9.9% | 2.5% | 1% | C |
| 1,896 | Jefferson Township OH | 1,032 | $64K | 6.3% | 0.0% | 0% | C |
| 1,897 | Riverdale VA | 1,077 | $61K | 7.5% | 0.0% | 12% | C |
| 1,898 | Danville OH | 1,025 | $53K | 4.6% | 4.7% | 5% | C |
| 1,899 | Glenwood City WI | 1,254 | $73K | 12.2% | 4.8% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Riverdale, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
The towns next door employ 12% of Riverdale
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Riverdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | – | C | D | 20 min | $60,694 |
| South Boston | 12% | D | C+ | 16 min | $44,052 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to South Boston. Darker towns draw more of Riverdale’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 Riverdale: questions
What is the median household income in Riverdale?
$60,694 (±$38,909) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riverdale?
7.5%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riverdale?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riverdale work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Boston (12%, 3 mi), Halifax (10%, 6 mi), Danville (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riverdale walkable?
Riverdale is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riverdale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riverdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riverdale
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.