Work & commute · Wakefield

Work & commute in Wakefield, VA

Most working residents leave Wakefield for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Suffolk (5%), Waverly (5%) and Richmond (4%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30 of 360 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

39 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 330 Wakefield residents head out of town to work, 30 work right here, and 351 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wakefield.

330live here, work elsewhere

30live and work here

351work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wakefield goes to work

Wakefield (in town)right here

8%30

Suffolk27.1 mi away

5%19

Waverly7.4 mi away

5%18

Richmond47.2 mi away

4%15

Smithfield20.6 mi away

3%12

Petersburg27.6 mi away

3%11

Sussex16.1 mi away

3%11

Chesapeake42.9 mi away

2%8

Surry14.4 mi away

1%5

Windsor17.6 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

63%226

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

How far

How far Wakefield commutes

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

22%

24%

32%

22%

22%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

32%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wakefield 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 Wakefield are

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

Jobs based in Wakefield

381 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities53%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month33%

Jobs Wakefield residents hold

360 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+10%

Jobs based in Wakefield, 2013 → 2023: 345 → 381. 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.