Work & commute · Gretna

Work & commute in Gretna, VA

Most working residents leave Gretna for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Chatham (14%), Danville (9%) and Altavista (6%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

45 of 476 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 431 Gretna residents head out of town to work, 45 work right here, and 508 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gretna.

431live here, work elsewhere

45live and work here

508work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gretna goes to work

Chatham9.7 mi away

14%66

Gretna (in town)right here

9%45

Danville25.5 mi away

9%43

Altavista12.8 mi away

6%29

Rocky Mount29.1 mi away

3%13

Lynchburg32.4 mi away

3%12

Timberlake26.2 mi away

1%7

Virginia Beach184.7 mi away

1%6

South Boston29.8 mi away

1%5

Roanoke39.9 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%245

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

How far

How far Gretna commutes

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

30%

25%

23%

22%

30%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gretna is balanced between jobs and homes

1.16jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Gretna are

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

Jobs based in Gretna

553 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Gretna residents hold

476 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+26%

Jobs based in Gretna, 2013 → 2023: 438 → 553. 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.