Photo: Mojo Hand · CC BY-SA 3.0Tappahannock’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 3% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Virginia 27, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Tappahannock; the top destination outside it is Richmond (7%, 42 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Tappahannock
Tappahannock is where the jobs are
Tappahannock has 2,060 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,300 people are in town, 52% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
Tappahannock workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Virginia. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical 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; with 924 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Tappahannock’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Tappahannock is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Tappahannock’s grade.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Tappahannock’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, Tappahannock could be anywhere from D− to D.
Tappahannock fills up on a workday
On a workday 805 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 1,941 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Tappahannock on a workday afternoon, 52% more than live here.
2.2 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.
Half of Tappahannock commutes less than 42 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 38% 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.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Virginia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tappahannock workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 748 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Where Tappahannock’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Tappahannock clocks in
7% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 2,060 jobs in Tappahannock are
2,060 jobs are based in Tappahannock. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tappahannock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tappahannock, 2013 → 2023: 2,300 → 2,060. 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.
Most trips from Tappahannock start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tappahannock is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 799 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). 14.9% of Tappahannock households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tappahannock’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Tappahannock compares with U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Tappahannock, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Mason Neck VA | 2,039 | $168K | 1.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,348 | Union City OH | 1,567 | $32K | 38.3% | 13.7% | 4% | D− |
| 5,349 | Linden TX | 1,809 | $44K | 32.1% | 5.8% | 14% | D− |
| 5,350 | Tappahannock VA | 2,193 | $47K | 25.2% | 0.0% | 13% | D− |
| 5,351 | Harrisville WV | 1,511 | $48K | 25.1% | 2.1% | 18% | D− |
| 5,352 | Posey Township IN | 1,872 | $43K | 23.7% | 0.0% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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.
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 Tappahannock: questions
What is the median household income in Tappahannock?
$46,816 (±$5,716) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tappahannock?
25.2%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tappahannock?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tappahannock work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (7%, 42 mi), Virginia Beach (3%, 91 mi), Washington (3%, 69 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tappahannock walkable?
Tappahannock is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tappahannock without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tappahannock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tappahannock
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.