Bradley’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 11.8%, against 16.7% across West Virginia. Jobs and income earn Bradley C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 1% work in Bradley itself; outside it, Beckley draws the most (31%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Bradley apart
Fewer jobs are based in Bradley than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bradley fell from 389 in 2013 to 138 in 2023, −65%. 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 ↓
Bradley is a place people come home to
There are 138 jobs based in Bradley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bradley has about 990 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
31% of Bradley works in Beckley
181 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Beckley, 7.2 miles away. That’s 31 times as many as work in Bradley itself. The commute map ↓
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 576 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Bradley gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Bradley is better than 20% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bradley’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($43,641, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.0%) is left out: Bradley’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bradley could be anywhere from D to B.
What the 138 jobs in Bradley are
138 jobs are based in Bradley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bradley, 2013 → 2023: 389 → 138. 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 Bradley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Bradley
On a workday 570 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 132 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Bradley on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.24 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.
Where the trip to work from Bradley ends
Where Bradley clocks in
31% of workers
4% 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 33 minutes each way for Bradley’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bradley workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 530 commuters (the 4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Bradley
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 Bradley: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bradley is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 551 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). 6.2% of Bradley households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Bradley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bradley next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900: 4,068th of 5,877 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 799 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,016 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,197 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,066 | McAlmont AR | 1,088 | $35K | 34.2% | 26.9% | <1% | C− |
| 4,067 | Manson WA | 1,462 | $91K | 22.6% | 5.1% | 15% | C− |
| 4,068 | Bradley WV | 1,424 | $44K | 11.8% | 5.0% | 1% | C− |
| 4,069 | Pigeon MI | 1,180 | $52K | 8.8% | 0.9% | 23% | C− |
| 4,070 | Menahga MN | 1,361 | $58K | 10.1% | 8.5% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Bradley, 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 Bradley: questions
What is the median household income in Bradley?
$43,641 (±$19,729) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bradley?
11.8%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bradley?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bradley work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beckley (31%, 7 mi), Prosperity (5%, 2 mi), Charleston (4%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bradley walkable?
Bradley is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bradley without a car?
3% 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 Bradley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bradley
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.