Work & commute · Bristol

Work & commute in Bristol, VA

About one in 4 of Bristol’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Bristol (11%), Abingdon (7%) and Kingsport (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27%

1,757 of 6,505 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 4,748 Bristol residents head out of town to work, 1,757 work right here, and 8,360 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bristol.

4,748live here, work elsewhere

1,757live and work here

8,360work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bristol goes to work

Bristol (in town)right here

27%1,757

Bristol, TN5.2 mi away

11%702

Abingdon12 mi away

7%457

Kingsport, TN22.5 mi away

4%287

Johnson City, TN22.7 mi away

4%275

Marion38.7 mi away

2%130

Lebanon20 mi away

2%105

Roanoke129.8 mi away

1%66

Greeneville, TN48.2 mi away

1%49

Elizabethton, TN19.7 mi away

1%45

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%2,632

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

How far

How far Bristol commutes

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

48%

25%

18%

48%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bristol is a job hub

1.56jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Bristol are

10,117 jobs are based in Bristol. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bristol’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bristol

10,117 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Bristol residents hold

6,505 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month43%

−11%

Jobs based in Bristol, 2013 → 2023: 11,345 → 10,117. 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.