Bluewell’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
18.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 16.7% for West Virginia as a whole. For jobs and income Bluewell is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D). Only 1% stay in Bluewell for work; outside it, Princeton is the main destination (12%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bluewell in brief
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bluewell
Job access by car holds Bluewell’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($35,168, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Bluewell’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, Bluewell could be anywhere from D to C−.
Inside Bluewell’s 308 jobs
308 jobs are based in Bluewell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bluewell, 2013 → 2023: 376 → 308. 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 Bluewell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Bluewell by day
On a workday 654 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 299 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Bluewell on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.46 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The places Bluewell commutes to
Where Bluewell clocks in
12% of workers
12% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Bluewell: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bluewell workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 512 commuters (the 2% 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.
Miles to work from Bluewell
About 21% 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.
Getting around Bluewell: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 525 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). 1.1% of Bluewell households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bluewell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700, Bluewell comes 4,824th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,359 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,380 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,465 | Eleanor WV | 1,497 | $79K | 5.9% | 0.6% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,822 | Columbia CA | 2,235 | $59K | 15.5% | 10.0% | 4% | D |
| 4,823 | Copeland OK | 1,401 | $58K | 16.1% | 4.5% | 3% | D |
| 4,824 | Bluewell WV | 1,992 | $35K | 18.3% | 2.8% | 1% | D |
| 4,825 | Judsonia AR | 1,906 | $43K | 29.0% | 3.0% | 3% | D |
| 4,826 | Versailles IN | 2,203 | $46K | 17.6% | 3.5% | 15% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bluewell, the top three, the last and three more from West 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 Bluewell: questions
What is the median household income in Bluewell?
$35,168 (±$4,792) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bluewell?
18.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bluewell?
26 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bluewell work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Princeton (12%, 10 mi), Bluefield (12%, 4 mi), Bluefield (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bluewell walkable?
Bluewell is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bluewell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bluewell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bluewell
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.