Photo: Bedford at en.wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Morgantown are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
For <1% of workers, the job is at home, next to 10% for Kentucky as a whole. The poverty rate is 37.3%, next to 16.1% for Kentucky as a whole. Jobs and income earn Morgantown D−; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Morgantown, in brief
Morgantown is where the jobs are
Morgantown has 2,219 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,900 people are in town, 55% more than the 2,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Morgantown’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Morgantown is Bowling Green, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (184) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Morgantown makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Morgantown are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Morgantown residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 35%. The jobs ↓
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 828 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Morgantown
On income, poverty and job access, Morgantown is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #134 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Morgantown’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (12.9%) is left out: Morgantown’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, Morgantown could be anywhere from D− to D.
A workday in Morgantown: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 591 residents head out to work, 237 work right here, and 1,982 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Morgantown on a workday afternoon, 55% more than live here.
2.7 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where in the region Morgantown works
About 25% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Factories, building and farms: 45% of the jobs in Morgantown
2,219 jobs are based in Morgantown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morgantown, 2013 → 2023: 2,065 → 2,219. 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.
Who travels to work in Morgantown, and from where
Where Morgantown clocks in
22% 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Morgantown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morgantown workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 755 commuters (the <1% 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.
Morgantown is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morgantown is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #85 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Morgantown 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 758 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). 13.0% of Morgantown households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morgantown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Morgantown sits among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Windy Hills KY | 2,476 | $131K | 5.1% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,579 | Luverne AL | 2,690 | $43K | 25.1% | 6.3% | 22% | D− |
| 4,580 | Lake Village AR | 1,833 | $41K | 18.8% | 10.5% | 35% | D− |
| 4,581 | Morgantown KY | 2,512 | $38K | 37.3% | 12.9% | 29% | D− |
| 4,582 | Gladwin MI | 3,140 | $43K | 17.4% | 9.5% | 25% | D− |
| 4,583 | Tazewell TN | 2,363 | $42K | 33.1% | 6.9% | 17% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Kentucky.
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?
$37,604 (±$12,218) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morgantown?
37.3%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morgantown?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morgantown work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bowling Green (22%, 22 mi), Lexington (2%, 135 mi), Louisville (2%, 88 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morgantown walkable?
Morgantown is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morgantown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% 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.