Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0Matheny has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 1% stay in Matheny for work; outside it, Pineville is the main destination (16%, 6 miles). There are 20 jobs in Matheny; 86 of its residents have a job. At home: 0% of workers have no commute at all (West Virginia 9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Matheny by day and by night
On a workday 85 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 520 people are in Matheny on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer 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.
Where the trip to work from Matheny ends
Where Matheny clocks in
12% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Matheny: what the 20 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Matheny, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 20. 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 Matheny’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Matheny
of Matheny workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 333 commuters (the 0% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Matheny
About 26% 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 Matheny: questions
What is the poverty rate in Matheny?
17.6%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Matheny work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pineville (16%, 6 mi), Oceana (12%, 3 mi), Beckley (5%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Matheny without a car?
20% 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 Matheny, from the people who make the trip.
More of Matheny
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.