Household incomes in MacArthur trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (West Virginia 27, U.S. 26). Below the poverty line: 36.4% of residents, against 16.7% across West Virginia. MacArthur grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in MacArthur, in a few figures
Stores, warehouses and trucking
64% of the jobs in MacArthur are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
MacArthur and Beckley trade workers both ways
Beckley is the top workplace for MacArthur residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in MacArthur come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
MacArthur has added jobs fast
Jobs based in MacArthur went from 366 in 2013 to 546 in 2023, +49%. 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 446 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why MacArthur gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, MacArthur is better than 10% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds MacArthur’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (16.9%) is left out: MacArthur’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, MacArthur could be anywhere from D to C−.
What MacArthur’s employers do
546 jobs are based in MacArthur.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in MacArthur, 2013 → 2023: 366 → 546. 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 MacArthur’s own residents hold wherever they work.
29% of working residents work in Beckley
Where MacArthur clocks in
29% of workers
6% 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.
Who leaves MacArthur for work, and who comes in
On a workday 439 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 539 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 (1.22 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.
Time on the road from MacArthur: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of MacArthur workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 556 commuters (the 8% 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 in the region MacArthur works
About 15% 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 MacArthur, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, MacArthur is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 603 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). 2.2% of MacArthur households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of MacArthur’s commuters take a bus or train.
MacArthur next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000: 5,226th of 6,308 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 872 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,109 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,224 | Cromwell Township PA | 1,488 | $52K | 12.3% | 4.1% | 12% | D |
| 5,225 | Palmer TX | 1,435 | $19K | 76.2% | 0.0% | 0% | D |
| 5,226 | MacArthur WV | 1,493 | $36K | 36.4% | 16.9% | 2% | D |
| 5,227 | Cordova AL | 1,679 | $38K | 29.0% | 4.6% | 4% | D |
| 5,228 | Elbow Lake MN | 1,276 | $60K | 19.3% | 4.9% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 MacArthur, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
29% of MacArthur works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | MacArthur workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacArthur | – | D | C | 21 min | $35,650 |
| Crab Orchard | under 1% | C− | B− | 21 min | $43,792 |
| Beckley | 29% | C | A− | 17 min | $45,826 |
| Mabscott | under 1% | C | B+ | 17 min | $57,813 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Beckley. Darker towns draw more of MacArthur’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 MacArthur: questions
What is the median household income in MacArthur?
$35,650 (±$11,065) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in MacArthur?
36.4%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from MacArthur?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in MacArthur work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beckley (29%, 3 mi), Charleston (6%, 48 mi), Prosperity (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is MacArthur walkable?
MacArthur is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around MacArthur without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from MacArthur, from the people who make the trip.
More of MacArthur
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.