Work & commute · Charles

Work & commute in Charles, VA

Most working residents leave Charles for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Richmond (12%), Williamsburg (5%) and Short Pump (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 59 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

— 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 57 Charles residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 332 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Charles.

57live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

332work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Charles goes to work

Richmond26 mi away

12%7

Williamsburg20.2 mi away

5%3

Short Pump37.2 mi away

5%3

Charles City (in town)right here

3%2

West Point20.1 mi away

2%1

Fairfax104.8 mi away

2%1

Pulaski204.6 mi away

2%1

Hopewell13.6 mi away

2%1

Wytheville223.3 mi away

2%1

Alexandria101.6 mi away

2%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

64%38

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

How far

How far Charles commutes

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

17%

46%

22%

15%

17%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Charles is a job hub

5.66jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Charles are

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

Jobs based in Charles

334 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)93%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Charles residents hold

59 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month41%

−0%

Jobs based in Charles, 2013 → 2023: 335 → 334. 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.