Photo: Aesopposea · CC BY-SA 3.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as West Union’s
38.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole. Measured by household income, West Union is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. West Union grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets West Union apart on work
West Union is where the jobs are
West Union has 1,820 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 841 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind West Union’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Union is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #992 of 992 in Ohio. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides West Union’s grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Union stays D−.
A workday in West Union: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 688 residents head out to work, 153 work right here, and 1,667 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in West Union on a workday afternoon, 32% more than live here.
2.2 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.
Half of West Union commutes less than 29 miles
About 35% 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.
Commuting in to West Union: where workers come from
Where West Union clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
Inside West Union’s 1,820 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Union, 2013 → 2023: 2,248 → 1,820. 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 Union’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from West Union: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Union workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 841 commuters (the 5% 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.
Getting around West Union: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Union is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #190 of 993 in Ohio. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 888 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). 29.2% of West Union households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of West Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200, and where West Union sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,545 | Marianna AR | 3,253 | $20K | 56.8% | 28.9% | 31% | D− |
| 4,546 | Walton NY | 2,824 | $35K | 30.3% | 15.7% | 25% | D− |
| 4,547 | West Union OH | 3,091 | $29K | 38.6% | 14.0% | 18% | D− |
| 4,548 | Oakridge OR | 3,127 | $40K | 23.9% | 18.2% | 24% | D− |
| 4,549 | Mattawa WA | 3,874 | $38K | 33.3% | 11.6% | 21% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Union, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
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 Union: questions
What is the median household income in West Union?
$29,056 (±$6,951) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Union?
38.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Union?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Union work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (5%, 88 mi), Seaman (4%, 10 mi), Portsmouth (4%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Union walkable?
West Union is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Union without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 29% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Union, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Union
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.