Work & commute · Pennington Gap

Work & commute in Pennington Gap, VA

Most working residents leave Pennington Gap for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Big Stone Gap (6%), Kingsport (4%) and Johnson City (3%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

57 of 538 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 481 Pennington Gap residents head out of town to work, 57 work right here, and 697 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pennington Gap.

481live here, work elsewhere

57live and work here

697work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pennington Gap goes to work

Pennington Gap (in town)right here

11%57

Big Stone Gap16.1 mi away

6%30

Kingsport, TN31.9 mi away

4%19

Johnson City, TN46.3 mi away

3%14

Bristol49.6 mi away

3%14

Jonesville6.6 mi away

2%13

Norton25.6 mi away

2%13

Wise29.3 mi away

2%12

Lebanon53.8 mi away

2%11

Duffield13.5 mi away

2%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

64%345

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

How far

How far Pennington Gap commutes

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

28%

18%

21%

32%

28%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pennington Gap is balanced between jobs and homes

1.40jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Pennington Gap are

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

Jobs based in Pennington Gap

754 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month31%

Jobs Pennington Gap residents hold

538 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month47%

Over $3,333 a month37%

−35%

Jobs based in Pennington Gap, 2013 → 2023: 1,161 → 754. 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.