Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5There are 6.1 jobs in Clay for every working resident, and 704 people commute in
About one in five work in Clay itself; outside it, Charleston draws the most (11%, 31 miles). Employers in Clay report 730 jobs; 119 of its residents have a job. A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Clay
On a workday 93 residents head out to work and 26 work right here.
About 970 people are in Clay on a workday afternoon, 168% more than live here.
6.1 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.
The towns that send workers to Clay
Where Clay clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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.
Most jobs in Clay are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clay, 2013 → 2023: 1,005 → 730. 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 Clay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Clay, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clay workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30 commuters (the 3% 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 far it is to work from Clay
About 15% 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.
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 Clay: questions
What is the poverty rate in Clay?
77.8%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clay?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clay work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (11%, 31 mi), South Charleston (7%, 35 mi), Beckley (4%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Clay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 59% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clay
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.