Work & commute · National Harbor

Work & commute in National Harbor, MD

Most working residents leave National Harbor for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (28%), Arlington (5%) and Alexandria (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

99 of 2,120 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,021 National Harbor residents head out of town to work, 99 work right here, and 8,159 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in National Harbor.

2,021live here, work elsewhere

99live and work here

8,159work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where National Harbor goes to work

Washington, DC8.4 mi away

28%591

National Harbor (in town)right here

5%99

Arlington, VA8.2 mi away

5%98

Alexandria, VA4.6 mi away

4%84

Tysons, VA15.1 mi away

3%56

Baltimore41.6 mi away

2%48

Bethesda15.2 mi away

2%33

Lake Arbor12.9 mi away

1%30

Springfield, VA9.4 mi away

1%29

Columbia30 mi away

1%27

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%1,025

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

How far

How far National Harbor commutes

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

50%

32%

14%

50%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

National Harbor is a job hub

3.90jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in National Harbor are

8,258 jobs are based in National Harbor. Here is what they are, next to the jobs National Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in National Harbor

8,258 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)90%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs National Harbor residents hold

2,120 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+114%

Jobs based in National Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 3,857 → 8,258. 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.