New River Gorge Bridge · Photo: JaGa · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.1%, unemployment in Fayetteville is lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Fayetteville itself; outside it, Beckley draws the most (13%, 20 miles). The two grades for Fayetteville are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 16% of workers work from home, against 9% across West Virginia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fayetteville stands out on work
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Fayetteville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fayetteville is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #19 of 61 in West Virginia. Unemployment holds Fayetteville’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fayetteville could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who commutes out of Fayetteville, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,037 residents head out to work, 208 work right here, and 1,917 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Fayetteville on a workday afternoon, 32% more than live here.
1.7 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 Fayetteville: where workers come from
Where Fayetteville clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Fayetteville: what the 2,125 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fayetteville, 2013 → 2023: 2,112 → 2,125. 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 Fayetteville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Fayetteville: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fayetteville workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,024 commuters (the 16% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Fayetteville
About 18% 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 Fayetteville, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fayetteville is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #30 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Fayetteville 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 1,219 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). 2.4% of Fayetteville households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fayetteville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fayetteville places 2,353rd of 4,969 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,433 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,442 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,351 | Lakeside MT | 2,386 | $77K | 10.9% | 2.0% | 13% | B− |
| 2,352 | Louisa VA | 2,244 | $65K | 9.9% | 1.9% | 10% | B− |
| 2,353 | Fayetteville WV | 2,721 | $68K | 10.3% | 2.1% | 17% | B− |
| 2,354 | Belgrade ME | 3,541 | $88K | 3.1% | 7.9% | 7% | B− |
| 2,355 | Lincoln Township MI | 2,134 | $73K | 7.0% | 2.1% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Fayetteville, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Next door to Fayetteville
The biggest share goes to Oak Hill (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fayetteville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | – | B− | B+ | 31 min | $67,623 |
| Oak Hill | 8% | C− | A− | 29 min | $52,466 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fayetteville’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 Fayetteville: questions
What is the median household income in Fayetteville?
$67,623 (±$11,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fayetteville?
10.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fayetteville?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fayetteville work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beckley (13%, 20 mi), Oak Hill (8%, 7 mi), Charleston (8%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fayetteville walkable?
Fayetteville is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fayetteville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fayetteville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fayetteville
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.