Photo: self · CC BY 3.0West Point has lower unemployment (0.4%) than 98% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in West Point; the top destination outside it is Richmond (6%, 37 miles). Jobs and income earn West Point A−; getting around on foot earns it B−. For 12% of workers, the job is at home, against 18% across Virginia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: West Point in brief
West Point trades workers with the towns around it
West Point has about as many jobs (1,725) as working residents (1,719), but they are mostly different people: 1,488 residents leave for work each day while 1,494 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in West Point are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
West Point makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in West Point are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs West Point residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for West Point
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Point is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #117 of 253 in Virginia. Unemployment holds West Point’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Point could be anywhere from B to A.
West Point on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,488 residents head out to work, 231 work right here, and 1,494 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 (1.00 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.
A place that makes things: 51% of West Point’s jobs are in goods
1,725 jobs are based in West Point.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Point, 2013 → 2023: 1,669 → 1,725. 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 Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from West Point
About 30% 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.
Out of West Point to work: where people go
Where West Point clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
The trip to work from West Point: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Point workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,496 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% 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.
Getting around West Point: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Point is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #192 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,702 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). 6.0% of West Point households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Point’s commuters take a bus or train.
893rd of 4,474: where West Point ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | One Loudoun VA | 3,309 | $241K | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Navy VA | 3,839 | $239K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Kings Park VA | 4,315 | $166K | 1.9% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 891 | Lesslie SC | 3,077 | $101K | 3.3% | 5.6% | 1% | A− |
| 892 | High Bridge NJ | 3,603 | $112K | 3.4% | 5.9% | 3% | A− |
| 893 | West Point VA | 3,595 | $79K | 3.5% | 0.4% | 13% | A− |
| 894 | Western Township IL | 2,854 | $99K | 4.4% | 3.6% | 13% | A− |
| 895 | Haw Creek Township IN | 3,887 | $87K | 5.3% | 1.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | 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 Point, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
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 Point: questions
What is the median household income in West Point?
$78,785 (±$15,585) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Point?
3.5%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Point?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Point work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richmond (6%, 37 mi), Newport News (5%, 36 mi), Virginia Beach (3%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Point walkable?
West Point is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Point without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Point, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Point
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.