Carnifex Ferry State Park · Photo: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Hico
Only 1% work in Hico itself; outside it, Fayetteville draws the most (9%, 6 miles). Hico has 101 jobs; 77 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Hico: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 76 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 100 people come in from elsewhere.
About 40 people are in Hico on a workday afternoon, 150% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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 places Hico commutes to
Where Hico clocks in
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Hico
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hico, 2013 → 2023: 180 → 101. 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 Hico’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Hico works
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.
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 Hico: questions
What is the poverty rate in Hico?
0.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Hico work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (9%, 6 mi), Beckley (8%, 25 mi), Ansted (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hico, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hico
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.