Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Eleanor
Only 3% stay in Eleanor for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (9%, 20 miles). For jobs and income Eleanor is better than 64% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (B). Working residents average 22 minutes each way, next to 27 for West Virginia and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Eleanor
Fewer jobs are based in Eleanor than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Eleanor fell from 862 in 2013 to 569 in 2023, −34%. 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 ↓
Eleanor makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Eleanor are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Eleanor residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Eleanor are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
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 509 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Eleanor’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Eleanor’s grade up (5.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Eleanor’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Eleanor could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Goods, not services: 39% of the jobs in Eleanor
569 jobs are based in Eleanor.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eleanor, 2013 → 2023: 862 → 569. 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 Eleanor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Eleanor’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 Eleanor workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 813 commuters (the 10% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 492 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 552 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 per resident).
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 people from Eleanor work
Where Eleanor clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
How far Eleanor’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
In Eleanor, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 900 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). 3.2% of Eleanor households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eleanor’s commuters take a bus or train.
Eleanor places 1,410th of 6,308 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 872 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,109 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,408 | Red Lake AZ | 1,676 | $101K | 0.0% | 3.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,409 | Wilson-Conococheague MD | 1,663 | $64K | 18.0% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,410 | Eleanor WV | 1,497 | $79K | 5.9% | 0.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,411 | Orange Township OH | 1,276 | $75K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,412 | Cypress Landing NC | 1,044 | $84K | 0.5% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Eleanor, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Next door to Eleanor
The biggest share goes to Winfield (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Eleanor’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 Eleanor: questions
What is the median household income in Eleanor?
$78,578 (±$3,819) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eleanor?
5.9%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eleanor?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eleanor work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (9%, 20 mi), Winfield (8%, 2 mi), Teays Valley (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eleanor walkable?
Eleanor is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eleanor without a car?
0% 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 Eleanor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eleanor
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.