Shumaker-Lewis House · Photo: thekingofmice · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Mason has 2.6 jobs per working resident, and 531 people come in to work
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average; West Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26. 553 jobs are based in Mason; 211 of its residents have a job. About one in ten work in Mason itself; outside it, Point Pleasant draws the most (7%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Mason apart
Mason is where the jobs are
Mason has 553 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,200 people are in town, 41% more than the 830 who live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Mason
47% of Mason residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in Mason pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Mason makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Mason are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Mason residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. 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 211 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Mason on a workday afternoon
On a workday 189 residents head out to work and 22 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Mason on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 35% of work in Mason
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mason, 2013 → 2023: 651 → 553. 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 Mason’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Mason: where workers come from
Where Mason clocks in
7% of workers
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.
Getting to work from Mason takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mason workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 223 commuters (the 7% 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 Mason goes to work
About 25% 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.
Mason and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mason workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason | – | — | — | 21 min | $45,893 |
| Clifton | under 3% | — | — | 41 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Clifton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mason’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 Mason: questions
What is the median household income in Mason?
$45,893 (±$11,258) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mason?
21.9%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mason?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mason work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Point Pleasant (7%, 13 mi), Charleston (6%, 51 mi), Green Township (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mason without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mason, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mason
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.