Work & commute · La Plata

Work & commute in La Plata, MD

Most working residents leave La Plata for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (15%), Waldorf (11%) and Baltimore (2%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

570 of 4,355 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

40 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,785 La Plata residents head out of town to work, 570 work right here, and 6,628 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in La Plata.

3,785live here, work elsewhere

570live and work here

6,628work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where La Plata goes to work

Washington, DC25.1 mi away

15%649

La Plata (in town)right here

13%570

Waldorf6.1 mi away

11%458

Baltimore55.7 mi away

2%96

Arlington, VA24.2 mi away

2%89

Alexandria, VA20 mi away

1%54

Prince Frederick20.6 mi away

1%48

Clinton14.2 mi away

1%47

California30.9 mi away

1%44

Columbia45.8 mi away

1%44

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%2,256

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far La Plata commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

31%

17%

42%

10%

31%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

42%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

La Plata is a job hub

1.65jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in La Plata are

7,198 jobs are based in La Plata. Here is what they are, next to the jobs La Plata’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in La Plata

7,198 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs La Plata residents hold

4,355 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−2%

Jobs based in La Plata, 2013 → 2023: 7,367 → 7,198. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.