Photo: Ser_Amantio_di_Nicolao · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Short Pump are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
29% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Virginia. Poverty touches 3.6% of residents, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. Jobs and income earn Short Pump A+; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Short Pump stands out on work
Short Pump trades workers with the towns around it
Short Pump has about as many jobs (14,722) as working residents (13,474), but they are mostly different people: 12,605 residents leave for work each day while 13,853 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Short Pump are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Short Pump
72% of Short Pump residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Short Pump pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Short Pump draws workers from far and wide
The 14,722 jobs in Short Pump are filled from a wide area. Short Pump’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Short Pump
29% of Short Pump workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Short Pump and Richmond trade workers both ways
Richmond is the top workplace for Short Pump residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Short Pump come from (11% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Short Pump
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Short Pump is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #23 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Short Pump’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Short Pump stays A+.
Short Pump on a workday afternoon
On a workday 12,605 residents head out to work, 869 work right here, and 13,853 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 (1.09 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 Short Pump’s employers do
14,722 jobs are based in Short Pump.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Short Pump, 2013 → 2023: 11,741 → 14,722. 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 Short Pump’s own residents hold wherever they work.
21% of working residents work in Richmond
Where Short Pump clocks in
21% of workers
8% 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 daily trip from Short Pump: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Short Pump workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,177 commuters (the 29% 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.
Half of Short Pump commutes less than 11 miles
About 17% 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 Short Pump, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Short Pump is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #141 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 15,708 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 11% 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 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 4.0% of Short Pump households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Short Pump’s commuters take a bus or train.
Short Pump places 20th of 1,467 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Rose Hill VA | 21,066 | $175K | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 13 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Avon OH | 25,611 | $136K | 3.0% | 1.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 19 | Scotch Plains Township NJ | 25,437 | $184K | 2.5% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| 20 | Short Pump VA | 29,026 | $139K | 3.6% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| 21 | New Lenox IL | 28,893 | $141K | 1.5% | 2.9% | 9% | A+ |
| 22 | Wildwood MO | 34,955 | $161K | 2.2% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Short Pump, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work next door: 10% of Short Pump’s workers
The biggest share goes to Innsbrook (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Short Pump workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Pump | – | A+ | B+ | 22 min | $138,845 |
| Tuckahoe | 2% | A− | B+ | 21 min | $102,264 |
| Wyndham | under 1% | A+ | C+ | 27 min | $235,250 |
| Innsbrook | 8% | A | B+ | 18 min | $129,436 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Short Pump’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 Short Pump: questions
What is the median household income in Short Pump?
$138,845 (±$12,726) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Short Pump?
3.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Short Pump?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Short Pump work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (21%, 12 mi), Innsbrook (8%, 2 mi), Tuckahoe (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Short Pump walkable?
Short Pump is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Short Pump without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Short Pump, from the people who make the trip.
More of Short Pump
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.