Catlettsburg, Kentucky, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Depot · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Catlettsburg have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 20.1% of residents, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. Jobs and income earn Catlettsburg C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average, next to 24 for Kentucky and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Catlettsburg at work: what stands out
Catlettsburg is where the jobs are
Catlettsburg has 1,119 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Catlettsburg and Ashland trade workers both ways
Ashland is the top workplace for Catlettsburg residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Catlettsburg come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Catlettsburg residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 630 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Catlettsburg earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Catlettsburg is better than 15% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Catlettsburg’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($38,276, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.8%) is left out: Catlettsburg’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Catlettsburg could be anywhere from D to C.
How a workday changes Catlettsburg
On a workday 586 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 1,075 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Catlettsburg on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Catlettsburg live
Where Catlettsburg clocks in
21% of workers
10% 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.
Catlettsburg’s commute, mile by mile
About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
71% of the jobs in Catlettsburg pay over $3,333 a month
1,119 jobs are based in Catlettsburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Catlettsburg, 2014 → 2024: 1,147 → 1,119. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Catlettsburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Catlettsburg: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Catlettsburg workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 400 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
In Catlettsburg, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Catlettsburg is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Catlettsburg near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 432 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). 16.1% of Catlettsburg households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Catlettsburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, Catlettsburg ranks 4,392nd of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,390 | Pike Bay Township MN | 1,778 | $73K | 22.9% | 15.0% | 19% | C− |
| 4,391 | Summit Township PA | 1,877 | $56K | 13.5% | 7.5% | 3% | C− |
| 4,392 | Catlettsburg KY | 1,722 | $38K | 20.1% | 9.8% | 7% | C− |
| 4,393 | Braham MN | 1,789 | $59K | 16.1% | 5.0% | 6% | C− |
| 4,394 | Deerfield Township MI | 1,882 | $58K | 14.1% | 3.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Catlettsburg, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
The towns next door employ 21% of Catlettsburg
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Catlettsburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catlettsburg | – | C− | B+ | 18 min | $38,276 |
| Ashland | 21% | C− | A− | 21 min | $52,715 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ashland. Darker towns draw more of Catlettsburg’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 2024, 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 Catlettsburg: questions
What is the median household income in Catlettsburg?
$38,276 (±$13,900) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Catlettsburg?
20.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Catlettsburg?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Catlettsburg work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashland (21%, 4 mi), Huntington (10%, 9 mi), Lexington (3%, 104 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Catlettsburg walkable?
Catlettsburg is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Catlettsburg without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Catlettsburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Catlettsburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.