Photo: Legomine · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Bellaire have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Bellaire grades D− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Below the poverty line: 31.8% of residents, next to 13.3% across Ohio. About one in ten work in Bellaire; the top destination outside it is Wheeling (19%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bellaire and work: the main findings
Many Bellaire workers cross into West Virginia
43% of Bellaire workers work outside Ohio, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Wheeling (19%), Moundsville (3%) and Glen Dale (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Bellaire trades workers with the towns around it
Bellaire has about as many jobs (1,636) as working residents (1,473), but they are mostly different people: 1,322 residents leave for work each day while 1,485 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Bellaire are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Bellaire has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Bellaire went from 1,134 in 2013 to 1,636 in 2023, +44%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Bellaire are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Bellaire workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Bellaire’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Bellaire earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bellaire is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #982 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Bellaire’s grade up (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bellaire could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where Bellaire’s working residents head each day
Where Bellaire clocks in
19% 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.
How many people are in Bellaire by day
On a workday 1,322 residents head out to work, 151 work right here, and 1,485 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.11 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.
What the 1,636 jobs in Bellaire are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bellaire, 2013 → 2023: 1,134 → 1,636. 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 Bellaire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Bellaire: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bellaire workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,335 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% 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.
Where in the region Bellaire works
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.
Few in Bellaire walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bellaire is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #297 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,459 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). 15.2% of Bellaire households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bellaire’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, and where Bellaire sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | South Russell OH | 3,913 | $172K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,145 | Cheboygan MI | 4,804 | $42K | 14.9% | 9.2% | 24% | D− |
| 4,146 | Wiggins MS | 4,316 | $50K | 24.8% | 12.0% | 28% | D− |
| 4,147 | Bellaire OH | 3,738 | $38K | 31.8% | 8.7% | 10% | D− |
| 4,148 | Jonesboro LA | 4,252 | $42K | 35.1% | 6.4% | 23% | D− |
| 4,149 | Wallace NC | 3,570 | $51K | 30.4% | 8.7% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Bellaire, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Work next door: 20% of Bellaire’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bellaire workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellaire | – | D− | B | 22 min | $38,205 |
| Pultney Township | 1% | D | C | 22 min | $46,696 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wheeling. Darker towns draw more of Bellaire’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 Bellaire: questions
What is the median household income in Bellaire?
$38,205 (±$6,285) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bellaire?
31.8%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bellaire?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bellaire work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wheeling (19%, 5 mi), Richland Township (6%, 9 mi), St. Clairsville (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bellaire walkable?
Bellaire is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bellaire without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bellaire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bellaire
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.