Work & commute · Narrows

Work & commute in Narrows, VA

Most working residents leave Narrows for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Blacksburg (15%), Pearisburg (14%) and Christiansburg (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13 of 800 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 787 Narrows residents head out of town to work, 13 work right here, and 239 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Narrows.

787live here, work elsewhere

13live and work here

239work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Narrows goes to work

Blacksburg22 mi away

15%122

Pearisburg4.4 mi away

14%114

Christiansburg25.8 mi away

6%45

Roanoke46.8 mi away

4%29

Salem41.5 mi away

3%23

Rich Creek3.7 mi away

2%19

Radford20 mi away

2%18

Narrows (in town)right here

2%13

Pembroke9.4 mi away

2%12

Pulaski19.4 mi away

2%12

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%393

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

How far

How far Narrows commutes

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

31%

41%

15%

13%

31%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Narrows is a commuter town

0.32jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Narrows are

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

Jobs based in Narrows

252 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Narrows residents hold

800 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+6%

Jobs based in Narrows, 2013 → 2023: 238 → 252. 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.