Work & commute · Richlands

Work & commute in Richlands, VA

Most working residents leave Richlands for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Tazewell (8%), Claypool Hill (8%) and Lebanon (3%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

264 of 1,892 working residents

Typical commute

17 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 1,628 Richlands residents head out of town to work, 264 work right here, and 1,746 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Richlands.

1,628live here, work elsewhere

264live and work here

1,746work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Richlands goes to work

Richlands (in town)right here

14%264

Tazewell17 mi away

8%157

Claypool Hill3.7 mi away

8%152

Lebanon19.7 mi away

3%59

Cedar Bluff2.6 mi away

3%53

Roanoke102.8 mi away

2%31

Bristol37.8 mi away

2%30

Abingdon27.8 mi away

1%28

Wise43.2 mi away

1%17

Blacksburg76.8 mi away

1%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%1,085

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

How far

How far Richlands commutes

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

37%

24%

14%

24%

37%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Richlands is balanced between jobs and homes

1.06jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Richlands are

2,010 jobs are based in Richlands. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Richlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Richlands

2,010 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Richlands residents hold

1,892 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month46%

−31%

Jobs based in Richlands, 2013 → 2023: 2,924 → 2,010. 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.