Work & commute · Bluefield

Work & commute in Bluefield, VA

Most working residents leave Bluefield for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Tazewell (11%), Bluefield (9%) and Princeton (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

217 of 2,026 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,809 Bluefield residents head out of town to work, 217 work right here, and 2,308 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bluefield.

1,809live here, work elsewhere

217live and work here

2,308work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bluefield goes to work

Tazewell14.7 mi away

11%221

Bluefield (in town)right here

11%217

Bluefield, WV4 mi away

9%190

Princeton, WV13.5 mi away

6%122

Beckley, WV37.7 mi away

2%40

Wytheville22 mi away

2%33

Richlands31.2 mi away

2%31

Christiansburg48.3 mi away

1%26

Welch, WV21.9 mi away

1%17

Marion30.5 mi away

1%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%1,113

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

How far

How far Bluefield commutes

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

32%

25%

18%

24%

32%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bluefield is balanced between jobs and homes

1.25jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Bluefield are

2,525 jobs are based in Bluefield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bluefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bluefield

2,525 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities38%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month49%

Over $3,333 a month31%

Jobs Bluefield residents hold

2,026 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month50%

−23%

Jobs based in Bluefield, 2013 → 2023: 3,289 → 2,525. 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.