Photo: Ken Thomas · Public domainMaking a living in Gauley Bridge
Home is the office for 19% of workers; West Virginia has 9%. Only 2% work in Gauley Bridge; the top destination outside it is Charleston (12%, 26 miles). Employers in Gauley Bridge report 64 jobs, against 97 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Gauley Bridge, and who commutes in
On a workday 95 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 62 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.
0.66 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 people from Gauley Bridge work
Where Gauley Bridge clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
What Gauley Bridge’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gauley Bridge, 2013 → 2023: 204 → 64. 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 Gauley Bridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Gauley Bridge
of Gauley Bridge workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 68 commuters (the 19% 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.
The commute from Gauley Bridge, by distance
About 28% 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.
Gauley Bridge and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gauley Bridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gauley Bridge | – | — | — | — | $25,625 |
| Glen Ferris | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Glen Ferris: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gauley Bridge’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 Gauley Bridge: questions
What is the median household income in Gauley Bridge?
$25,625 (±$17,847) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gauley Bridge?
40.9%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Gauley Bridge work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (12%, 26 mi), Montgomery (7%, 6 mi), South Charleston (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gauley Bridge without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 28% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gauley Bridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gauley Bridge
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.