Most of Brookhaven commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
There are 771 jobs in Brookhaven for 2,545 working residents. Jobs and income earn Brookhaven B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 2% work in Brookhaven itself; outside it, Morgantown draws the most (40%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Brookhaven apart on work
A lot of Brookhaven works one town over
43% of working residents work in a town that borders Brookhaven: Morgantown (40%) and Cheat Lake (3%). Next door ↓
Most Brookhaven residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Brookhaven has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Brookhaven went from 501 in 2013 to 771 in 2023, +54%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Brookhaven are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Brookhaven is a place people come home to
There are 771 jobs based in Brookhaven, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brookhaven has about 4,400 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Brookhaven gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookhaven is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #20 of 61 in West Virginia. Household income holds Brookhaven’s grade up ($88,438, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookhaven could be anywhere from C− to A.
Short hops and long hauls from Brookhaven
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.
What Brookhaven’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookhaven, 2013 → 2023: 501 → 771. 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 Brookhaven’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Brookhaven: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookhaven workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,511 commuters (the 12% 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 and out of Brookhaven on a workday
On a workday 2,482 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 708 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,400 people are in Brookhaven on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
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 Brookhaven’s working residents head each day
Where Brookhaven clocks in
40% 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.
For most of Brookhaven, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookhaven is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #46 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Brookhaven 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 2,869 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). 3.1% of Brookhaven households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Brookhaven’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Brookhaven ranks: 2,073rd of 3,432 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,331 | Ranson corporation WV | 6,853 | $90K | 12.0% | 2.5% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,630 | Pea Ridge WV | 6,988 | $66K | 9.8% | 2.4% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,667 | Hurricane WV | 7,367 | $71K | 8.5% | 3.6% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,071 | Cedarville OH | 4,667 | $64K | 23.5% | 10.4% | 25% | B− |
| 2,072 | Lewisburg PA | 5,226 | $55K | 20.8% | 0.7% | 23% | B− |
| 2,073 | Brookhaven WV | 6,212 | $88K | 10.5% | 7.0% | 2% | B− |
| 2,074 | Bella Vista CA | 4,511 | $91K | 6.0% | 8.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,075 | Westwego LA | 8,317 | $46K | 20.2% | 2.7% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Brookhaven, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
43% of Brookhaven works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brookhaven workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookhaven | – | B− | B− | 20 min | $88,438 |
| Cheat Lake | 3% | A− | C− | 24 min | $117,014 |
| Morgantown | 40% | B− | A | 16 min | $44,727 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Morgantown. Darker towns draw more of Brookhaven’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 Brookhaven: questions
What is the median household income in Brookhaven?
$88,438 (±$17,860) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookhaven?
10.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookhaven?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookhaven work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morgantown (40%, 4 mi), Westover (4%, 6 mi), Cheat Lake (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookhaven walkable?
Brookhaven is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookhaven without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookhaven, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookhaven
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.