Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Fairmont has higher unemployment (6.7%) than 80% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Fairmont; the top destination outside it is Morgantown (13%, 16 miles). Jobs and income earn Fairmont C−; getting around on foot earns it A. The trip to work takes 23 minutes on average, 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
Work in Fairmont, in a few figures
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Fairmont
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fairmont is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #38 of 61 in West Virginia. Job access by car holds Fairmont’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairmont could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Where people from Fairmont work
Where Fairmont clocks in
13% 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.
Who works in Fairmont, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 5,796 residents head out to work, 1,648 work right here, and 7,830 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Fairmont on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
The kinds of work in Fairmont
9,478 jobs are based in Fairmont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairmont, 2013 → 2023: 9,620 → 9,478. 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 Fairmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Fairmont: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairmont workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,070 commuters (the 12% 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 Fairmont’s workers travel
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.
In Fairmont, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairmont is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #11 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Fairmont near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,189 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). 12.8% of Fairmont households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fairmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fairmont places 1,566th of 1,822 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 365 | Teays Valley WV | 14,151 | $109K | 5.1% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,479 | South Charleston WV | 13,072 | $64K | 16.9% | 7.0% | 16% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,486 | Martinsburg WV | 19,211 | $60K | 19.8% | 5.2% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,564 | Gretna LA | 17,360 | $43K | 26.9% | 6.3% | 10% | C− |
| 1,565 | Harrison AR | 13,802 | $44K | 14.9% | 3.7% | 50% | C− |
| 1,566 | Fairmont WV | 18,035 | $63K | 17.4% | 6.7% | 22% | C− |
| 1,567 | Eel Township IN | 18,549 | $48K | 16.9% | 4.4% | 26% | C− |
| 1,568 | Circleville OH | 14,634 | $60K | 18.9% | 6.8% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Fairmont, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Around Fairmont: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Pleasant Valley (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairmont workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairmont | – | C− | A | 23 min | $63,032 |
| Pleasant Valley | 3% | B | C+ | 23 min | $67,635 |
| White Hall | 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. White Hall: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairmont’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 Fairmont: questions
What is the median household income in Fairmont?
$63,032 (±$2,689) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairmont?
17.4%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairmont?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairmont work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morgantown (13%, 16 mi), Bridgeport (7%, 13 mi), Clarksburg (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairmont walkable?
Fairmont is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairmont without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairmont
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.