Where Beaver earns its living
20% of workers work from home; West Virginia has 9%. Only 4% work in Beaver; the top destination outside it is Beckley (26%, 3 miles). Commuters spend 36 minutes getting to work on average, where West Virginia has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Beaver apart on work
Beaver is where the jobs are
Beaver has 665 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Beaver has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Beaver went from 344 in 2013 to 665 in 2023, +93%. The jobs ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Beaver’s working residents have a job less than 5 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 36 minutes, longer than the West Virginia average of 27. 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; with 437 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The daily flow of workers through Beaver
On a workday 421 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 649 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in Beaver on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
1.5 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.
Inside Beaver’s 665 jobs
665 jobs are based in Beaver.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beaver, 2013 → 2023: 344 → 665. 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 Beaver’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Beaver: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beaver workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 304 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across West Virginia: 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.
The towns that send workers to Beaver
Where Beaver clocks in
26% 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.
How many miles Beaver commutes
About 18% 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.
Next door to Beaver
The biggest share goes to Daniels (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Beaver’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 Beaver: questions
What is the median household income in Beaver?
$30,870 (±$2,779) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beaver?
14.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beaver?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beaver work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beckley (26%, 3 mi), Charleston (3%, 50 mi), Daniels (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Beaver without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beaver, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beaver
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.