Work & commute · Laurel

Work & commute in Laurel, VA

Most working residents leave Laurel for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Richmond (20%), Innsbrook (5%) and Short Pump (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

288 of 7,903 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,615 Laurel residents head out of town to work, 288 work right here, and 11,126 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Laurel.

7,615live here, work elsewhere

288live and work here

11,126work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Laurel goes to work

Richmond7.4 mi away

20%1,567

Innsbrook4 mi away

5%374

Laurel (in town)right here

4%288

Short Pump6.3 mi away

3%221

Mechanicsville8.3 mi away

2%193

Tuckahoe5.6 mi away

2%164

Ashland8.8 mi away

2%137

Lakeside2.3 mi away

1%109

Glen Allen2.4 mi away

1%107

Tysons90.1 mi away

1%99

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%4,644

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

How far

How far Laurel commutes

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

64%

16%

64%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Laurel is balanced between jobs and homes

1.44jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Laurel are

11,414 jobs are based in Laurel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Laurel

11,414 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Laurel residents hold

7,903 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

−2%

Jobs based in Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 11,628 → 11,414. 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.