Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.3 jobs in Sandston for every working resident, and 8,275 people commute in
Employers in Sandston report 8,517 jobs, and 3,757 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Sandston is better than 48% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (B). Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sandston
Sandston is where the jobs are
Sandston has 8,517 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 12,000 people are in town, 64% more than the 7,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Sandston draws workers from far and wide
The 8,517 jobs in Sandston are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 28%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Sandston and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Sandston residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Sandston come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 figures behind Sandston’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Sandston’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,238, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sandston could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Sandston
On a workday 3,515 residents head out to work and 242 work right here.
About 12,000 people are in Sandston on a workday afternoon, 64% more than live here.
2.3 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.
The towns that send workers to Sandston
Where Sandston clocks in
19% of workers
5% 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.
The kinds of work in Sandston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sandston, 2013 → 2023: 8,524 → 8,517. 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 Sandston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Sandston spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sandston workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,655 commuters (the 12% 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 Sandston
About 16% 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.
Most trips from Sandston start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of 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 4,159 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 84% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 64% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 11.5% of Sandston households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sandston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sandston places 1,851st of 3,083 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 7 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,849 | Farmersville TX | 5,531 | $81K | 9.1% | 16.5% | 7% | B− |
| 1,850 | Zephyrhills West FL | 5,980 | $52K | 11.9% | 2.8% | 2% | B− |
| 1,851 | Sandston VA | 7,399 | $59K | 13.9% | 4.1% | 6% | B− |
| 1,852 | Conover NC | 8,938 | $66K | 15.7% | 3.3% | 11% | B− |
| 1,853 | Taylor PA | 6,232 | $72K | 11.4% | 5.5% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | 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 Sandston, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Sandston and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Sandston’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 Sandston: questions
What is the median household income in Sandston?
$59,238 (±$15,742) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sandston?
13.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sandston?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sandston work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (19%, 9 mi), Mechanicsville (5%, 8 mi), Innsbrook (2%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sandston walkable?
Sandston is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sandston without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 64% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sandston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sandston
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.