Work & commute · Smithfield

Work & commute in Smithfield, VA

Most working residents leave Smithfield for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Newport News (23%), Hampton (8%) and Norfolk (7%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

434 of 3,697 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,263 Smithfield residents head out of town to work, 434 work right here, and 4,083 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Smithfield.

3,263live here, work elsewhere

434live and work here

4,083work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Smithfield goes to work

Newport News8.8 mi away

23%835

Smithfield (in town)right here

12%434

Hampton18.2 mi away

8%281

Norfolk20.7 mi away

7%264

Virginia Beach35.1 mi away

7%247

Chesapeake26.7 mi away

6%238

Suffolk19.1 mi away

6%236

Windsor13.1 mi away

3%128

Portsmouth15.9 mi away

3%126

Carrollton5.6 mi away

1%52

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%856

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

How far

How far Smithfield commutes

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

28%

49%

12%

28%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Smithfield is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Smithfield are

4,517 jobs are based in Smithfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Smithfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Smithfield

4,517 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Smithfield residents hold

3,697 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

−27%

Jobs based in Smithfield, 2013 → 2023: 6,149 → 4,517. 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.