Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0West Wendover has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn West Wendover C+; getting around on foot earns it B. Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers; Nevada has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in West Wendover: the gist
Commutes from West Wendover are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 25 across Nevada. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Nevada worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in West Wendover go to people who live here
Of the 2,251 jobs based in West Wendover, 53% are held by West Wendover residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in West Wendover is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Few West Wendover workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across Nevada. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Inside West Wendover’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Wendover is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #25 of 42 in Nevada. Unemployment holds West Wendover’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Wendover could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The trip to work from West Wendover: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Wendover workers work from home, vs 12% across Nevada. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,038 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Nevada: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes West Wendover
On a workday 479 residents head out to work, 1,193 work right here, and 1,058 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in West Wendover on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in West Wendover
2,251 jobs are based in West Wendover.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Wendover, 2013 → 2023: 2,699 → 2,251. 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 West Wendover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
7% of working residents work in Elko
Where West Wendover clocks in
7% of workers
2% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from West Wendover
About 26% 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.
In West Wendover, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Wendover is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #29 of 42 in Nevada. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.6% across Nevada, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,146 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). 23.1% of West Wendover households have no vehicle (Nevada 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Wendover’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, West Wendover is 2,421st among 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,167 | Nellis AFB NV | 5,087 | $69K | 3.6% | 27.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,709 | Washoe Valley NV | 3,315 | $123K | 5.8% | 6.8% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,737 | Minden NV | 3,707 | $100K | 13.3% | 2.1% | 23% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,419 | Lyons Township MI | 3,580 | $75K | 8.2% | 5.2% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,420 | Connell WA | 5,080 | $78K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,421 | West Wendover NV | 4,576 | $49K | 7.4% | 1.0% | 71% | C+ |
| 2,422 | Chocolay Township MI | 6,014 | $87K | 9.4% | 4.4% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,423 | Paradise Township MI | 5,101 | $74K | 6.3% | 5.3% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 West Wendover, the top three, the last and three more from Nevada.
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 West Wendover: questions
What is the median household income in West Wendover?
$49,013 (±$20,975) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,260 across Nevada and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Wendover?
7.4%, against 12.4% across Nevada and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Wendover?
13 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Wendover work?
71% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elko (7%, 89 mi), Wendover (2%, 3 mi), Grantsville (2%, 85 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Wendover walkable?
West Wendover is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Wendover without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Wendover, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Wendover
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.