Work & commute · Dryden

Work & commute in Dryden, VA

Most working residents leave Dryden for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Big Stone Gap (6%), Pennington Gap (5%) and Wise (5%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 328 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 323 Dryden residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 134 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dryden.

323live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

134work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dryden goes to work

Big Stone Gap11.1 mi away

6%19

Pennington Gap5.2 mi away

5%18

Wise24.4 mi away

5%15

Kingsport, TN28.4 mi away

4%12

Norton20.6 mi away

3%11

Bristol44.9 mi away

2%8

Duffield9.1 mi away

2%7

Jonesville11.3 mi away

2%7

Lebanon48.6 mi away

2%6

Johnson City, TN43.3 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

67%220

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

How far

How far Dryden commutes

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

29%

24%

22%

25%

29%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dryden is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.42 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Dryden are

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

Jobs based in Dryden

139 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)52%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month72%

Over $3,333 a month18%

Jobs Dryden residents hold

328 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month48%

+348%

Jobs based in Dryden, 2013 → 2023: 31 → 139. 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.