Benwood’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
1% of workers have no commute at all, next to 9% for West Virginia as a whole. 29.3% of residents are in poverty (West Virginia 16.7%). The two grades for Benwood are D for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Benwood: the gist
Benwood and Wheeling trade workers both ways
Wheeling is the top workplace for Benwood residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Benwood come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Benwood than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Benwood fell from 1,016 in 2014 to 562 in 2024, −45%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most Benwood residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 602 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Benwood
On income, poverty and job access, Benwood is better than 11% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Benwood’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (3.1%) is left out: Benwood’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Benwood could be anywhere from D to C−.
28% of working residents work in Wheeling
Where Benwood clocks in
28% of workers
7% 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.
A place that makes things: 29% of Benwood’s jobs are in goods
562 jobs are based in Benwood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Benwood, 2014 → 2024: 1,016 → 562. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Benwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Benwood goes to work
About 16% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who works in Benwood, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 560 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 520 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 (0.93 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Benwood: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Benwood workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 631 commuters (the 1% 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.
In Benwood, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Benwood is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Benwood near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 639 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). 20.0% of Benwood households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Benwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Benwood is 3,460th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 555 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 709 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 837 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,458 | Athens WV | 1,184 | $57K | 19.4% | 5.7% | <1% | D |
| 3,459 | Burnham ME | 1,108 | $59K | 13.6% | 6.2% | 3% | D |
| 3,460 | Benwood WV | 1,196 | $44K | 29.3% | 3.1% | 7% | D |
| 3,461 | Prairieton Township IN | 1,122 | $47K | 23.5% | 4.7% | 0% | D |
| 3,462 | Riverton Township MI | 1,232 | $63K | 17.6% | 13.6% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Benwood, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Benwood and its neighbors: 29% work next door
The biggest share goes to Wheeling (28%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Benwood’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 2024, 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 Benwood: questions
What is the median household income in Benwood?
$43,636 (±$12,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Benwood?
29.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Benwood?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Benwood work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wheeling (28%, 5 mi), Moundsville (7%, 6 mi), Pittsburgh (3%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Benwood walkable?
Benwood is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Benwood without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Benwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Benwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.