Work & commute · Ferrum

Work & commute in Ferrum, VA

Most working residents leave Ferrum for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Rocky Mount (26%), Roanoke (9%) and Martinsville (2%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

46 of 647 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 601 Ferrum residents head out of town to work, 46 work right here, and 291 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ferrum.

601live here, work elsewhere

46live and work here

291work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ferrum goes to work

Rocky Mount7.6 mi away

26%166

Roanoke23.6 mi away

9%61

Ferrum (in town)right here

7%46

Martinsville19.1 mi away

2%14

Greensboro, NC59.1 mi away

2%11

Salem24.2 mi away

2%10

Collinsville15.7 mi away

2%10

Christiansburg26.6 mi away

1%7

Lynchburg54.3 mi away

1%7

Danville40.8 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%309

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

How far

How far Ferrum commutes

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

35%

32%

14%

19%

35%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ferrum is a commuter town

0.52jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Ferrum are

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

Jobs based in Ferrum

337 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities5%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Ferrum residents hold

647 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−25%

Jobs based in Ferrum, 2013 → 2023: 450 → 337. 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.