Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Fairlea are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Poverty touches 27.6% of residents, where West Virginia as a whole has 16.7%. Measured by household income, Fairlea is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. The two grades for Fairlea are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Fairlea apart
Fairlea is where the jobs are
Fairlea has 1,479 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,200 people are in town, 65% more than the 1,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fairlea and Lewisburg trade workers both ways
Lewisburg is the top workplace for Fairlea residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Fairlea come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Fairlea than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Fairlea fell from 2,028 in 2013 to 1,479 in 2023, −27%. 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 ↓
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 632 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Fairlea’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Fairlea is better than 3% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Fairlea’s grade up (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($24,411, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Fairlea’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, Fairlea could be anywhere from D− to D.
Fairlea on a workday afternoon
On a workday 572 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 1,419 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Fairlea on a workday afternoon, 65% more than live here.
2.3 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.
Commuting in to Fairlea: where workers come from
Where Fairlea clocks in
23% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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 kinds of work in Fairlea
1,479 jobs are based in Fairlea.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairlea, 2013 → 2023: 2,028 → 1,479. 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 Fairlea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Fairlea
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairlea workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 401 commuters (the 2% 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.
Miles to work from Fairlea
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Fairlea start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairlea is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 411 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). 21.8% of Fairlea households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairlea’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800, and where Fairlea sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 723 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 922 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,042 | Grantsburg WI | 1,374 | $35K | 20.0% | 1.8% | 30% | D− |
| 5,043 | Forest Township MI | 1,208 | $53K | 20.9% | 7.3% | 9% | D− |
| 5,044 | Fairlea WV | 1,312 | $24K | 27.6% | 2.4% | 9% | D− |
| 5,045 | Tombstone AZ | 1,376 | $35K | 15.5% | 0.8% | 36% | D− |
| 5,046 | Augusta KY | 1,099 | $51K | 24.1% | 6.9% | 18% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Fairlea, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Bordering towns draw 25% of Fairlea’s workers
The biggest share goes to Lewisburg (23%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairlea workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairlea | – | D− | C+ | 22 min | $24,411 |
| Ronceverte | 2% | D− | C− | 19 min | $41,889 |
| Lewisburg | 23% | D | A | 13 min | $49,560 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairlea’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 Fairlea: questions
What is the median household income in Fairlea?
$24,411 (±$3,026) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairlea?
27.6%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairlea?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairlea work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lewisburg (23%, 3 mi), Charleston (4%, 76 mi), Covington (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairlea walkable?
Fairlea is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairlea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairlea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairlea
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.