Photo: Kubigula · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Waverly (10.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Waverly is behind 88% of U.S. towns. Waverly grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 7% work in Waverly itself; outside it, Sussex draws the most (7%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Waverly
Why Waverly gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waverly is better than 21% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Waverly’s grade up (7.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waverly could be anywhere from D to B−.
Getting to work from Waverly takes about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waverly workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 763 commuters (the 13% 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.
Who commutes out of Waverly, and who commutes in
On a workday 714 residents head out to work, 57 work right here, and 561 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 (0.80 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.
The towns that employ Waverly’s residents
Where Waverly clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
What the 618 jobs in Waverly are
618 jobs are based in Waverly.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waverly, 2013 → 2023: 592 → 618. 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 Waverly’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Waverly’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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 Waverly, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waverly is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Waverly near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 880 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). 18.7% of Waverly households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waverly’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600, Waverly comes 3,755th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Great Falls Crossing VA | 1,414 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 11 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Caryville TN | 2,217 | $56K | 18.4% | 8.6% | 3% | C− |
| 3,754 | Blossom TX | 1,493 | $55K | 9.4% | 1.2% | 1% | C− |
| 3,755 | Waverly VA | 1,936 | $50K | 7.8% | 10.8% | 7% | C− |
| 3,756 | Charlotte NY | 1,543 | $61K | 11.7% | 5.4% | 2% | C− |
| 3,757 | Parish NY | 2,400 | $68K | 15.3% | 8.7% | 11% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Waverly, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
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 Waverly: questions
What is the median household income in Waverly?
$50,156 (±$18,749) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waverly?
7.8%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waverly?
37 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waverly work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sussex (7%, 13 mi), Richmond (4%, 40 mi), Petersburg (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waverly walkable?
Waverly is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waverly without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waverly, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waverly
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.