Work & commute · Amherst

Work & commute in Amherst, VA

Most working residents leave Amherst for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Lynchburg (24%), Madison Heights (3%) and Roanoke (2%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

100 of 672 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 572 Amherst residents head out of town to work, 100 work right here, and 1,914 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Amherst.

572live here, work elsewhere

100live and work here

1,914work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Amherst goes to work

Lynchburg14.9 mi away

24%164

Amherst (in town)right here

15%100

Madison Heights9.6 mi away

3%21

Roanoke54 mi away

2%12

Timberlake21.2 mi away

2%12

Richmond86.4 mi away

1%9

Lovingston16.4 mi away

1%9

Forest18.9 mi away

1%7

Rustburg21.6 mi away

1%7

Charlottesville44.1 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%325

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

How far

How far Amherst commutes

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

29%

37%

10%

24%

29%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Amherst is a job hub

3.00jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Amherst are

2,014 jobs are based in Amherst. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Amherst’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Amherst

2,014 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Amherst residents hold

672 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

−27%

Jobs based in Amherst, 2013 → 2023: 2,753 → 2,014. 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.