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Work & commute in Mount Vernon · A commuter town

96% of Mount Vernon’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Mount Vernon for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (18%), Alexandria (10%) and Arlington (9%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Work in town
4%
184 of 4,995 working residents
Typical commute
13 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
31 min
More than VA (27 min)
Work from home
29%
More than VA (18%)
Jobs based here
2,044
A commuter town
Work out of state
16%
mostly District of Columbia

What kind of work town is Mount Vernon?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

18% of working residents work in Washington

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Washington: 902 residents work here (18%)Alexandria: 499 residents work here (10%)Hybla ValleyWoodlawnTysons: 199 residents work here (4%)GrovetonNewington: 73 residents work here (1%)Fair Oaks: 68 residents work here (1%)Mount VernonFort HuntSpringfield: 345 residents work here (7%)WoodbridgeFort BelvoirDale CityChantilly: 73 residents work here (1%)Reston: 103 residents work here (2%)Arlington: 450 residents work here (9%)WashingtonAlexandriaArlingtonSpringfieldTysonsRestonMount Vernon
1
Washington, DC14 mi away
18%902
2
Alexandria7.4 mi away
10%499
3
Arlington11.4 mi away
9%450
4
Springfield6.3 mi away
7%345
5
Tysons15.8 mi away
4%199
6
Mount Vernon (in town)right here
4%184
7
Reston21.1 mi away
2%103
8
Newington5.2 mi away
1%73
9
Chantilly21.8 mi away
1%73
10
Fair Oaks17.2 mi away
1%68
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%2,099
The top trips

Where Mount Vernon clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Virginia

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
238 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Mount Vernon31 min
Virginia27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
29%

of Mount Vernon workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10

How Mount Vernon ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Mount Vernon quiets down on a workday

On a workday 4,811 residents head out to work, 184 work right here, and 1,860 people come in from elsewhere.

4,811live here, work elsewhere
184live and work here
1,860work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night13,000
Workday10,000
13,000live here− 4,800head out to work+ 1,900come in to work= 10,000on a workday

About 10,000 people are in Mount Vernon on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.41jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Mount Vernon commutes less than 13 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miWashington: 18% · 14 miAlexandria: 10% · 7.4 miArlington: 9% · 11.4 miSpringfield: 7% · 6.3 miTysons: 4% · 15.8 miReston: 2% · 21.1 miNewington: 1% · 5.2 miChantilly: 1% · 21.8 miFair Oaks: 1% · 17.2 miWashington 18%Alexandria 10%Arlington 9%Springfield 7%Tysons 4%Mount Vernon
Mount VernonTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi1,673 residents
53%10–24 mi2,600 residents
6%25–50 mi292 residents
8%Over 50 mi377 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

2,044 jobs are based in Mount Vernon. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mount Vernon’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Mount VernonJobs Mount Vernon residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms11%6%
Trade, transport & utilities7%12%
Services: health, schools, offices82%82%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month34%17%
Over $3,333 a month49%73%

Who does it

29 or younger23%17%
30 to 5447%53%
55 and older30%30%
−1%

Jobs based in Mount Vernon, 2013 → 2023: 2,068 → 2,044. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Mount Vernon and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Mount Vernon’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Mount Vernon, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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