Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0Work, pay and getting to work in Lost Creek
The trip to work takes 25 minutes on average; West Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26. Only 3% work in Lost Creek itself; outside it, Bridgeport draws the most (21%, 11 miles). Lost Creek has 106 jobs; 133 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lost Creek by day and by night
On a workday 129 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 102 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 (0.80 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 Lost Creek commutes to
Where Lost Creek clocks in
21% of workers
11% of workers
3% 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.
In Lost Creek, 65% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lost Creek, 2013 → 2023: 33 → 106. 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 Lost Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Lost Creek
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lost Creek workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 179 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.
How far it is to work from Lost Creek
About 16% 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 Lost Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Lost Creek?
$78,571 (±$32,888) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lost Creek?
15.2%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lost Creek?
25 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 Lost Creek work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bridgeport (21%, 11 mi), Clarksburg (11%, 8 mi), Fairmont (3%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lost Creek without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lost Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lost Creek
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.