Photo: Daniel G Rego · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.8 jobs in Charleston for every working resident, and 44,380 people commute in
About half work in Charleston itself; outside it, South Charleston draws the most (9%, 4 miles). Employers in Charleston report 54,071 jobs for 19,622 working residents. The two grades for Charleston are 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 Charleston, in a few figures
Charleston is where the jobs are
Charleston has 54,071 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 81,000 people are in town, 75% more than the 46,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Charleston 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 ↓
Charleston draws workers from far and wide
The 54,071 jobs in Charleston are filled from a wide area. Charleston’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
The four measures behind Charleston’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charleston is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #26 of 61 in West Virginia. Job access by car holds Charleston’s grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Charleston could be anywhere from C to C+.
How a workday changes Charleston
On a workday 9,931 residents head out to work and 9,691 work right here.
About 81,000 people are in Charleston on a workday afternoon, 75% 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.
Getting to work from Charleston takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charleston workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,271 commuters (the 13% 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.
The daily trip into Charleston
Where Charleston clocks in
9% of workers
2% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Charleston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charleston, 2013 → 2023: 60,683 → 54,071. 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 Charleston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Charleston commutes less than 4 miles
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.
Charleston is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charleston is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #19 of 61 in West Virginia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 21,008 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). 12.4% of Charleston households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Charleston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Charleston next to U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000: 805th of 969 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 803 | Stonecrest GA | 61,337 | $65K | 16.7% | 8.6% | 5% | C |
| 804 | Manchester Township NJ | 46,556 | $57K | 10.5% | 7.3% | 6% | C |
| 805 | Charleston WV | 46,117 | $66K | 15.8% | 6.5% | 49% | C |
| 806 | Florence-Graham CA | 60,690 | $65K | 20.1% | 9.2% | 3% | C |
| 807 | West Little River FL | 33,890 | $56K | 17.7% | 6.9% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 936 | Huntington WV | 44,815 | $45K | 25.7% | 6.8% | 45% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Charleston, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
11% of Charleston works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charleston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | – | C | A− | 17 min | $65,812 |
| South Charleston | 9% | C | A− | 19 min | $63,884 |
| Malden | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Dunbar | 2% | B− | A− | 20 min | $58,379 |
Same-state neighbors only. Malden: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to South Charleston. Darker towns draw more of Charleston’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 Charleston: questions
What is the median household income in Charleston?
$65,812 (±$4,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charleston?
15.8%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charleston?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charleston work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Charleston (9%, 4 mi), Huntington (2%, 44 mi), Dunbar (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charleston walkable?
Charleston is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charleston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charleston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charleston
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.