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Sussex County Courthouse Historic DistrictSussex County Courthouse Historic District · Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domain
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Jobs & commute in Sussex

There are 5.9 jobs in Sussex for every working resident, and 442 people commute in

Only 1% work in Sussex; the top destination outside it is Petersburg (5%, 21 miles). 443 jobs are based in Sussex, and 75 of its residents work somewhere. 0% of workers have no commute at all, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

The workday shuffle in and out of Sussex

On a workday 74 residents head out to work and 1 work right here.

74live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
442work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night66
Workday430
66live here− 74head out to work+ 440come in to work= 430on a workday

About 430 people are in Sussex on a workday afternoon, 558% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
5.91jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

5.9 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 2024, primary jobs.

The commute map

The daily trip into Sussex

HendersonGrahamJarratt: 4 workers live here (1%)Wakefield: 10 workers live here (2%)Waverly: 43 workers live here (10%)Emporia: 15 workers live here (3%)Colonial Heights: 11 workers live here (2%)WilliamsburgHopewell: 10 workers live here (2%)Petersburg: 21 workers live here (5%)PortsmouthVirginia Beach: 4 workers live here (1%)ChesapeakeSuffolk: 7 workers live here (2%)RichmondSussexChester: 6 workers live here (1%)MechanicsvilleWaverlyPetersburgEmporiaColonial HeightsWakefieldHopewellSussex
1
Waverly12.6 mi away
10%43
2
Petersburg20.9 mi away
5%21
3
Emporia21.1 mi away
3%15
4
Colonial Heights24.8 mi away
2%11
5
Wakefield16.1 mi away
2%10
6
Hopewell25.9 mi away
2%10
7
Suffolk38.4 mi away
2%7
8
Chester31.3 mi away
1%6
9
Jarratt12.9 mi away
1%4
10
Virginia Beach69.4 mi away
1%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
70%312
The top trips

Where Sussex clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

Most jobs in Sussex are in services

Jobs based in SussexJobs Sussex residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%23%
Trade, transport & utilities3%32%
Services: health, schools, offices97%45%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less9%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month28%35%
Over $3,333 a month63%52%

Who does it

29 or younger12%15%
30 to 5445%48%
55 and older42%37%
+81%

Jobs based in Sussex, 2014 → 2024: 245 → 443. 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 2024.

Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sussex’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Working from home in Sussex

Working from home
0%

of Sussex workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Sussex gets to work
100%Drive alone

Share of the 12 commuters (the 0% 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

The commute from Sussex, by distance

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miPetersburg: 5% · 20.9 miRichmond: 4% · 43.9 miWaverly: 3% · 12.6 miWilliamsburg: 3% · 39.4 miHopewell: 3% · 25.9 miPortsmouth: 3% · 50.4 miChesapeake: 3% · 56.1 miMechanicsville: 3% · 49.4 miHenderson: 1% · 75.4 miGraham: 1% · 131.8 miPetersburg 5%Richmond 4%Waverly 3%Williamsburg 3%Hopewell 3%Sussex
SussexTop destinations (size = commuters)
3%Under 10 mi2 residents
27%10–24 mi20 residents
32%25–50 mi24 residents
39%Over 50 mi29 residents

About 39% 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 2024.

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Sussex: questions

What is the poverty rate in Sussex?

0.0%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

Where do people who live in Sussex work?

1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Petersburg (5%, 21 mi), Richmond (4%, 44 mi), Waverly (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).

Can you get around Sussex without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Sussex, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Sussex

Sussex home →

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.