Photo: User:Vmenkov · CC BY-SA 3.0Morgantown has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
110 jobs are based in Morgantown, against 427 working residents. For jobs and income Morgantown is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (C−). Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Morgantown
Morgantown workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Morgantown is a place people come home to
There are 110 jobs based in Morgantown, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Morgantown has about 690 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Morgantown works in Indianapolis
137 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Indianapolis, 29 miles away. That’s 32 times as many as work in Morgantown itself. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 427 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Morgantown: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Morgantown’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($54,007, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (16.0%) is left out: Morgantown’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Morgantown could be anywhere from D to B.
Time on the road from Morgantown: about 38 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morgantown workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 472 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Morgantown by day and by night
On a workday 423 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 106 people come in from elsewhere.
About 690 people are in Morgantown on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
32% of working residents work in Indianapolis
Where Morgantown clocks in
32% of workers
9% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Morgantown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morgantown, 2013 → 2023: 144 → 110. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Morgantown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Morgantown works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Morgantown, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Indiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 504 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Morgantown households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morgantown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, Morgantown ranks 2,030th of 3,133 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Ogden Dunes IN | 1,163 | $117K | 3.9% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Campbell Township IN | 1,172 | $122K | 0.0% | 7.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Long Beach IN | 1,158 | $122K | 3.8% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,028 | Pierson Township IN | 1,229 | $72K | 31.0% | 2.1% | 1% | C− |
| 2,029 | Jackson Township OH | 1,225 | $52K | 7.9% | 12.3% | 1% | C− |
| 2,030 | Morgantown IN | 1,007 | $54K | 15.0% | 16.0% | 1% | C− |
| 2,031 | Westport NY | 1,272 | $71K | 11.0% | 13.1% | 6% | C− |
| 2,032 | Black Lick Township PA | 1,105 | $69K | 14.8% | 7.7% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Morgantown, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Around Morgantown: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morgantown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | – | C− | C− | 38 min | $54,007 |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | — | — | 51 min | — |
| Hensley Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 28 min | $90,525 |
Same-state neighbors only. Jackson Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morgantown’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Morgantown: questions
What is the median household income in Morgantown?
$54,007 (±$17,814) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morgantown?
15.0%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morgantown?
38 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morgantown work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (32%, 29 mi), Franklin (9%, 14 mi), Martinsville (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morgantown walkable?
Morgantown is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morgantown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morgantown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morgantown
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.