Work & commute · Appalachia

Work & commute in Appalachia, VA

Most working residents leave Appalachia for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Big Stone Gap (11%), Wise (11%) and Norton (8%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 461 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 441 Appalachia residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 87 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Appalachia.

441live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

87work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Appalachia goes to work

Big Stone Gap3.6 mi away

11%53

Wise12.6 mi away

11%50

Norton9.4 mi away

8%38

Kingsport, TN30.5 mi away

5%21

Appalachia (in town)right here

4%20

Johnson City, TN45.6 mi away

2%11

Abingdon47.7 mi away

2%10

Pennington Gap17.1 mi away

2%8

Coeburn18.1 mi away

1%6

Bristol40.8 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%238

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

How far

How far Appalachia commutes

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

25%

34%

18%

24%

25%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Appalachia is a commuter town

0.23jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.23 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Appalachia are

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

Jobs based in Appalachia

107 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month57%

Over $3,333 a month21%

Jobs Appalachia residents hold

461 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month41%

−57%

Jobs based in Appalachia, 2013 → 2023: 249 → 107. 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.