Work & commute · Blacksburg

Work & commute in Blacksburg, VA

47% of Blacksburg’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Christiansburg (8%), Roanoke (4%) and Radford (3%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

47%

4,488 of 9,462 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,974 Blacksburg residents head out of town to work, 4,488 work right here, and 16,840 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Blacksburg.

4,974live here, work elsewhere

4,488live and work here

16,840work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Blacksburg goes to work

Blacksburg (in town)right here

47%4,488

Christiansburg6.4 mi away

8%758

Roanoke26 mi away

4%384

Radford10.6 mi away

3%271

Salem20.8 mi away

2%165

Lynchburg68.7 mi away

1%103

Cave Spring23 mi away

1%80

Richmond163.3 mi away

1%70

Danville72 mi away

1%56

Chesapeake230.9 mi away

0%47

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%3,040

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

How far

How far Blacksburg commutes

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

60%

10%

22%

60%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Blacksburg is a job hub

2.25jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Blacksburg are

21,328 jobs are based in Blacksburg. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blacksburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Blacksburg

21,328 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Blacksburg residents hold

9,462 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+1%

Jobs based in Blacksburg, 2013 → 2023: 21,098 → 21,328. 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.