Asbury House · Photo: Roger B. Wise · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Hurricane
Only 6% stay in Hurricane for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (19%, 22 miles). The two grades for Hurricane are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; West Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Hurricane earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hurricane is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #14 of 61 in West Virginia. Unemployment holds Hurricane’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($71,167, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hurricane could be anywhere from C to A−.
A workday in Hurricane: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,809 residents head out to work, 185 work right here, and 2,154 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
Where people from Hurricane work
Where Hurricane clocks in
19% of workers
9% 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.
What work there is in Hurricane: 2,339 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hurricane, 2013 → 2023: 2,090 → 2,339. 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 Hurricane’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Hurricane
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hurricane workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,887 commuters (the 11% 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 Hurricane
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.
Most of Hurricane commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hurricane is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #49 of 61 in West Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across West Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,254 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). 5.0% of Hurricane households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hurricane’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hurricane is 1,546th of 3,042 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 9,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 605 | Bridgeport WV | 9,427 | $100K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,251 | Ranson corporation WV | 6,853 | $90K | 12.0% | 2.5% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,324 | Cross Lanes WV | 9,671 | $64K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,544 | Wake Village TX | 5,796 | $72K | 14.3% | 2.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,545 | St. James NC | 7,318 | $116K | 4.3% | 6.2% | 4% | B |
| 1,546 | Hurricane WV | 7,367 | $71K | 8.5% | 3.6% | 6% | B |
| 1,547 | Charlestown IN | 8,802 | $77K | 12.5% | 4.0% | 7% | B |
| 1,548 | Zeeland MI | 5,637 | $53K | 10.4% | 2.9% | 20% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,042 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Hurricane, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
The towns around Hurricane
The biggest share goes to Teays Valley (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hurricane workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | – | B | B− | 25 min | $71,167 |
| Teays Valley | 8% | A | C+ | 24 min | $108,741 |
| Culloden | under 2% | B+ | B− | 33 min | $73,318 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hurricane’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 Hurricane: questions
What is the median household income in Hurricane?
$71,167 (±$11,794) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hurricane?
8.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hurricane?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hurricane work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (19%, 22 mi), Huntington (9%, 23 mi), Teays Valley (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hurricane walkable?
Hurricane is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hurricane without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hurricane, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hurricane
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.