Work & commute · Virginia Beach

Work & commute in Virginia Beach, VA

47% of Virginia Beach’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Norfolk (17%), Chesapeake (12%) and Portsmouth (2%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

47%

86,370 of 182,497 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 96,127 Virginia Beach residents head out of town to work, 86,370 work right here, and 79,469 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Virginia Beach.

96,127live here, work elsewhere

86,370live and work here

79,469work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Virginia Beach goes to work

Virginia Beach (in town)right here

47%86,370

Norfolk15.5 mi away

17%31,274

Chesapeake16.6 mi away

12%21,952

Portsmouth19.4 mi away

2%3,946

Newport News34.1 mi away

2%3,877

Hampton23.8 mi away

1%2,710

Suffolk34 mi away

1%2,604

Richmond95.2 mi away

1%1,829

Arlington156.4 mi away

1%1,208

Tysons161.8 mi away

1%965

Everywhere elseother towns and states

14%25,762

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

How far

How far Virginia Beach commutes

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

62%

20%

15%

62%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Virginia Beach is balanced between jobs and homes

0.91jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Virginia Beach are

165,839 jobs are based in Virginia Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Virginia Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Virginia Beach

165,839 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Virginia Beach residents hold

182,497 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+5%

Jobs based in Virginia Beach, 2013 → 2023: 157,398 → 165,839. 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.