Work & commute · Chesapeake

Work & commute in Chesapeake, VA

About one in 3 of Chesapeake’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Virginia Beach (20%), Norfolk (18%) and Portsmouth (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

31%

30,900 of 100,075 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 69,175 Chesapeake residents head out of town to work, 30,900 work right here, and 72,152 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chesapeake.

69,175live here, work elsewhere

30,900live and work here

72,152work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chesapeake goes to work

Chesapeake (in town)right here

31%30,900

Virginia Beach16.6 mi away

20%20,164

Norfolk17.1 mi away

18%17,655

Portsmouth13.2 mi away

5%5,088

Suffolk18.5 mi away

4%3,688

Newport News30 mi away

4%3,655

Hampton25.5 mi away

2%2,392

Richmond87.5 mi away

1%1,065

Arlington158.1 mi away

0%489

Tysons162.9 mi away

0%398

Everywhere elseother towns and states

15%14,581

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

How far

How far Chesapeake commutes

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

52%

30%

14%

52%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chesapeake is balanced between jobs and homes

1.03jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.03 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chesapeake are

103,052 jobs are based in Chesapeake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chesapeake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chesapeake

103,052 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Chesapeake residents hold

100,075 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+12%

Jobs based in Chesapeake, 2013 → 2023: 91,852 → 103,052. 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.