Priscilla Strode Turner House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Falling Waters (10.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
Hardly any work in Falling Waters itself; outside it, Martinsburg draws the most (10%, 9 miles). Falling Waters grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work 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
What sets Falling Waters apart on work
The four measures behind Falling Waters’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Falling Waters is better than 57% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Falling Waters’ grade up (4.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Falling Waters could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
The daily flow of workers through Falling Waters
On a workday 638 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 114 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Falling Waters on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.18 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where the trip to work from Falling Waters ends
Where Falling Waters clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Falling Waters’ 115 jobs
115 jobs are based in Falling Waters.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Falling Waters, 2013 → 2023: 39 → 115. 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 Falling Waters’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Falling Waters: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Falling Waters workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 886 commuters (the 8% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Falling Waters
About 22% 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 Falling Waters, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Falling Waters is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 959 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Falling Waters households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Falling Waters’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900, Falling Waters ranks 1,858th of 5,404 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,384 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,638 | Kenova WV | 2,841 | $54K | 9.0% | 0.0% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,856 | East Hanover Township PA | 2,715 | $59K | 14.6% | 0.4% | 7% | B |
| 1,857 | Ridgway Township PA | 2,384 | $77K | 6.5% | 2.6% | 20% | B |
| 1,858 | Falling Waters WV | 2,183 | $88K | 4.3% | 10.8% | <1% | B |
| 1,859 | Norton KS | 2,651 | $53K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 30% | B |
| 1,860 | Shepherdstown WV | 1,522 | $64K | 6.2% | 11.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | St. Marys WV | 1,746 | $64K | 6.7% | 1.6% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Falling Waters, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
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 Falling Waters: questions
What is the median household income in Falling Waters?
$88,466 (±$18,658) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Falling Waters?
4.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Falling Waters?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Falling Waters work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Martinsburg (10%, 9 mi), Hagerstown (5%, 10 mi), Frederick (3%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Falling Waters walkable?
Falling Waters is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Falling Waters without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Falling Waters, from the people who make the trip.
More of Falling Waters
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.