Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Wise has 4.1 jobs per working resident, and 3,487 people come in to work
There are 3,714 jobs in Wise; 909 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Wise are C for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Wise is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Wise, in brief
Wise has far more jobs than workers
Wise has 3,714 jobs, 4.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,700 people are in town, 98% more than the 2,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Wise are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Virginia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Virginia 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 909 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Wise’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wise is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #214 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds Wise’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,596, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wise could be anywhere from D to B+.
How a workday changes Wise
On a workday 682 residents head out to work and 227 work right here.
About 5,700 people are in Wise on a workday afternoon, 98% more than live here.
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 daily trip from Wise: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wise workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,009 commuters (the 18% 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.
Where Wise’s workforce comes from
Where Wise clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
What Wise’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wise, 2013 → 2023: 4,104 → 3,714. 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 Wise’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Wise works
About 20% 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.
Getting around Wise: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wise is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #159 of 253 in Virginia. Both inputs place Wise 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 1,238 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). 7.2% of Wise households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wise’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Wise is 3,221st of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Sully Square VA | 2,394 | $176K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Oak Grove VA | 2,408 | $174K | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,219 | Pottsboro TX | 2,767 | $69K | 10.4% | 6.2% | 5% | C |
| 3,220 | Teague TX | 3,595 | $61K | 13.3% | 2.6% | 5% | C |
| 3,221 | Wise VA | 2,853 | $54K | 12.5% | 3.1% | 25% | C |
| 3,222 | Hamilton IL | 2,624 | $57K | 14.2% | 2.9% | 12% | C |
| 3,223 | Benson MN | 3,444 | $53K | 9.8% | 3.1% | 42% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Wise, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
How Wise compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wise workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise | – | C | B | 20 min | $53,596 |
| The University of Virginia's College at Wise | under 2% | — | — | 11 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. The University of Virginia's College at Wise: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wise’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 Wise: questions
What is the median household income in Wise?
$53,596 (±$13,891) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wise?
12.5%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wise?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wise work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Norton (13%, 4 mi), Big Stone Gap (3%, 13 mi), Pound (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wise walkable?
Wise is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wise without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wise, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wise
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.