Work & commute · Suffolk

Work & commute in Suffolk, VA

About one in 5 of Suffolk’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Chesapeake (14%), Norfolk (13%) and Virginia Beach (10%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22%

8,764 of 39,966 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 31,202 Suffolk residents head out of town to work, 8,764 work right here, and 21,671 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Suffolk.

31,202live here, work elsewhere

8,764live and work here

21,671work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Suffolk goes to work

Suffolk (in town)right here

22%8,764

Chesapeake18.5 mi away

14%5,719

Norfolk26.6 mi away

13%5,073

Virginia Beach34 mi away

10%4,150

Newport News27 mi away

9%3,677

Portsmouth19 mi away

6%2,450

Hampton30.6 mi away

4%1,578

Smithfield19.1 mi away

1%479

Richmond74 mi away

1%411

Franklin17 mi away

1%339

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%7,326

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

How far

How far Suffolk commutes

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

27%

46%

13%

27%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Suffolk is balanced between jobs and homes

0.76jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Suffolk are

30,435 jobs are based in Suffolk. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Suffolk’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Suffolk

30,435 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Suffolk residents hold

39,966 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+27%

Jobs based in Suffolk, 2013 → 2023: 23,898 → 30,435. 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.