Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Logan are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Logan is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 44.5% of residents (West Virginia 16.7%). The two grades for Logan are D− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Logan apart
Logan has far more jobs than workers
Logan has 1,540 jobs, 3.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,400 people are in town, 84% more than the 1,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Logan is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Logan are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
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 442 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Logan’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Logan is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Logan’s grade up (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (24.1%) is left out: Logan’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Logan stays D−.
Who works in Logan, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 384 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 1,482 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Logan on a workday afternoon, 84% more than live here.
3.5 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.
Logan is a services town
1,540 jobs are based in Logan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Logan, 2013 → 2023: 1,561 → 1,540. 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 Logan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Logan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Logan workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 428 commuters (the 5% 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 Logan’s workers come from
Where Logan clocks in
6% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Logan
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 Logan, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Logan is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 451 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). 33.9% of Logan households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Logan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Logan and other U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 723 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 922 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,282 | Coalgate OK | 1,735 | $46K | 30.4% | 10.6% | 27% | D− |
| 5,283 | Huntsville TN | 1,709 | $31K | 30.9% | 0.0% | 23% | D− |
| 5,284 | Logan WV | 1,312 | $30K | 44.5% | 24.1% | 13% | D− |
| 5,285 | Kettleman City CA | 1,002 | $48K | 31.1% | 10.9% | <1% | D− |
| 5,286 | Georgiana AL | 1,274 | $24K | 24.1% | 9.0% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Logan, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
The towns around Logan
The biggest share goes to Mount Gay-Shamrock (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Logan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan | – | D− | A | 19 min | $29,832 |
| Mount Gay-Shamrock | 6% | D− | A− | 17 min | $51,740 |
| Stollings | 2% | — | — | 11 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Stollings: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Logan’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 Logan: questions
What is the median household income in Logan?
$29,832 (±$6,176) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Logan?
44.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Logan?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Logan work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (6%, 39 mi), Mount Gay-Shamrock (6%, 2 mi), South Charleston (4%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Logan walkable?
Logan is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Logan without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 34% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Logan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Logan
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.