Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Beckley has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Beckley for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (4%, 47 miles). Below the poverty line: 28.9% of residents (West Virginia 16.7%). Beckley grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Beckley: the figures worth knowing
Beckley is where the jobs are
Beckley has 17,417 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 28,000 people are in town, 69% more than the 16,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Beckley draws workers from far and wide
The 17,417 jobs in Beckley are filled from a wide area. Beckley’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Beckley are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. 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.
Beckley’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beckley is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #35 of 61 in West Virginia. Unemployment holds Beckley’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beckley could be anywhere from C− to C+.
A workday in Beckley: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,711 residents head out to work, 2,477 work right here, and 14,940 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Beckley on a workday afternoon, 69% more than live here.
2.8 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.
Commuting in to Beckley: where workers come from
Where Beckley clocks in
4% of workers
1% 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.
About 17 minutes to work from Beckley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beckley workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,854 commuters (the 7% 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.
What work there is in Beckley: 17,417 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beckley, 2013 → 2023: 18,077 → 17,417. 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 Beckley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Beckley
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 Beckley, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beckley is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #25 of 61 in West Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across West Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,313 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). 17.0% of Beckley households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Beckley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000, Beckley comes 1,843rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 465 | Teays Valley WV | 14,151 | $109K | 5.1% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,784 | South Charleston WV | 13,072 | $64K | 16.9% | 7.0% | 16% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,794 | Martinsburg WV | 19,211 | $60K | 19.8% | 5.2% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,841 | New Kensington PA | 11,759 | $49K | 16.0% | 6.8% | 7% | C |
| 1,842 | Ashland OR | 20,889 | $68K | 15.2% | 6.2% | 40% | C |
| 1,843 | Beckley WV | 16,373 | $46K | 28.9% | 3.2% | 40% | C |
| 1,844 | Hanover PA | 16,684 | $61K | 14.5% | 8.9% | 19% | C |
| 1,845 | Delhi CA | 11,009 | $68K | 15.5% | 11.5% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Beckley, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
How Beckley compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Beckley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beckley | – | C | A− | 17 min | $45,826 |
| Mabscott | under 1% | C | B+ | 17 min | $57,813 |
| MacArthur | under 1% | D | C | 21 min | $35,650 |
| Raleigh | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Raleigh: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Beckley’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 Beckley: questions
What is the median household income in Beckley?
$45,826 (±$8,661) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beckley?
28.9%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beckley?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beckley work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (4%, 47 mi), Prosperity (2%, 5 mi), Oak Hill (1%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Beckley walkable?
Beckley is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beckley without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beckley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beckley
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.