Photo: Duane Lempke · CC BY-SA 4.0Tysons’ household incomes are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 34% of workers, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole. 7.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.9% across Virginia. Tysons grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Tysons apart
Tysons fills up on a workday
Tysons has 109,592 jobs, 8.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 126,000 people are in town, 4 times the 29,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Tysons
34% of Tysons workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
81% of Tysons’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 86% of the jobs based in Tysons. The jobs ↓
Tysons draws workers from far and wide
The 109,592 jobs in Tysons are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 26%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Tysons is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Tysons gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tysons is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #92 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Tysons’ grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tysons could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who works in Tysons, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 10,285 residents head out to work, 2,655 work right here, and 106,937 people come in from elsewhere.
About 126,000 people are in Tysons on a workday afternoon, 334% more than live here.
8.5 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Tysons
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tysons workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,393 commuters (the 34% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Tysons
109,592 jobs are based in Tysons.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tysons, 2013 → 2023: 91,456 → 109,592. 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 Tysons’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Tysons live
Where Tysons clocks in
14% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Tysons
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.
Tysons is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,313 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 55% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 57.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 8.5% of Tysons households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Tysons’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,467 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000, Tysons comes 374th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Derry NH | 33,990 | $109K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| 373 | Mountain House CA | 25,315 | $177K | 5.0% | 3.5% | 5% | A |
| 374 | Tysons VA | 28,936 | $130K | 7.9% | 4.5% | 21% | A |
| 375 | Firestone CO | 20,129 | $120K | 4.6% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| 376 | O'Fallon IL | 32,656 | $106K | 6.2% | 3.7% | 13% | 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 Tysons, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
The towns around Tysons
The biggest share goes to McLean (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tysons workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tysons | – | A | A+ | 27 min | $129,818 |
| Vienna | under 2% | A | A+ | 26 min | $216,953 |
| Dunn Loring | under 2% | A+ | A | 27 min | $244,265 |
| Wolf Trap | under 2% | A+ | A− | 30 min | $250,000+ |
| Pimmit Hills | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 24 min | $172,880 |
| McLean | 2% | A+ | A | 28 min | $250,000+ |
| Idylwood | under 2% | A+ | A | 25 min | $120,109 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tysons’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 Tysons: questions
What is the median household income in Tysons?
$129,818 (±$9,808) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tysons?
7.9%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tysons?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tysons work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (14%, 11 mi), Arlington (9%, 7 mi), Reston (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tysons walkable?
Tysons is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tysons without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 55% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tysons, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tysons
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.