Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHardly anyone in Kenova is out of work
Measured by household income, Kenova is behind 83% of U.S. towns. Kenova grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Kenova; the top destination outside it is Huntington (32%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Kenova
Commutes from Kenova are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker, and quicker than any town next door (18 to 23 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Kenova and Huntington trade workers both ways
Huntington is the top workplace for Kenova residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Kenova come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Kenova than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Kenova fell from 1,677 in 2013 to 1,217 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 977 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Kenova
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kenova is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #10 of 61 in West Virginia. Unemployment holds Kenova’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($53,683, 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, Kenova could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
About 11 minutes each way, quicker than most of West Virginia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kenova workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,413 commuters (the 4% 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.
Where Kenova’s working residents head each day
Where Kenova clocks in
32% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Kenova: 1,217 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kenova, 2013 → 2023: 1,677 → 1,217. 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 Kenova’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Kenova for work, and who comes in
On a workday 889 residents head out to work, 88 work right here, and 1,129 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 (1.25 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Kenova
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 Kenova, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kenova is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #1 of 61 in West Virginia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 42.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 10.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,468 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). 4.6% of Kenova households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kenova’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kenova next to U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800: 1,666th of 4,703 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 982 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,394 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,402 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,664 | Fox Township PA | 3,495 | $75K | 6.0% | 1.6% | 16% | B |
| 1,665 | Bell Canyon CA | 2,177 | $250K | 0.7% | 8.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,666 | Kenova WV | 2,841 | $54K | 9.0% | 0.0% | 9% | B |
| 1,667 | Newton Township MI | 2,800 | $74K | 7.5% | 3.4% | 1% | B |
| 1,668 | Stonewall LA | 2,716 | $57K | 9.7% | 0.4% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | 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 Kenova, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Work in the towns next to Kenova
The biggest share goes to Ceredo (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Kenova’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 Kenova: questions
What is the median household income in Kenova?
$53,683 (±$9,182) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kenova?
9.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kenova?
11 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kenova work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Huntington (32%, 8 mi), Charleston (5%, 52 mi), Ashland (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kenova walkable?
Kenova is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 42% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kenova without a car?
2% 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 Kenova, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kenova
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.