Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.0Chesapeake has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any stay in Chesapeake for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (38%, 10 miles). 122 jobs are based in Chesapeake, against 415 working residents. For jobs and income Chesapeake is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Chesapeake: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Chesapeake than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Chesapeake fell from 445 in 2013 to 122 in 2023, −73%. 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 ↓
38% of Chesapeake works in Charleston
156 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Charleston, 10 miles away. That’s 38 times as many as work in Chesapeake itself. The commute map ↓
Chesapeake is a place people come home to
There are 122 jobs based in Chesapeake, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. 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; with 415 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Chesapeake’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Chesapeake’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Chesapeake’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, Chesapeake could be anywhere from D to B−.
What Chesapeake’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chesapeake, 2013 → 2023: 445 → 122. 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 Chesapeake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Chesapeake to work: where people go
Where Chesapeake clocks in
38% of workers
10% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Chesapeake
On a workday 412 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 119 people come in from elsewhere.
About 980 people are in Chesapeake on a workday afternoon, 23% 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.
About 22 minutes each way for Chesapeake’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chesapeake workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 649 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.
How many miles Chesapeake commutes
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.
Chesapeake is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of 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 675 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). 11.9% of Chesapeake households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chesapeake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Chesapeake is 3,125th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 633 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 805 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,123 | Holgate OH | 1,050 | $51K | 9.9% | 5.8% | 7% | C− |
| 3,124 | Windham OH | 1,675 | $54K | 23.0% | 5.5% | 4% | C− |
| 3,125 | Chesapeake WV | 1,270 | $61K | 21.5% | 2.3% | 1% | C− |
| 3,126 | Mars Hill ME | 1,318 | $65K | 9.6% | 10.8% | 21% | C− |
| 3,127 | Howard NY | 1,351 | $74K | 12.9% | 4.4% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Chesapeake, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Chesapeake and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chesapeake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake | – | C− | B+ | 22 min | $60,927 |
| Belle | under 1% | A− | A | 18 min | $77,031 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chesapeake’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 Chesapeake: questions
What is the median household income in Chesapeake?
$60,927 (±$17,017) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chesapeake?
21.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chesapeake?
22 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 Chesapeake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (38%, 10 mi), South Charleston (10%, 12 mi), Beckley (2%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chesapeake walkable?
Chesapeake is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chesapeake 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 Chesapeake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chesapeake
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.