Photo: Coal town guy · CC BY-SA 4.0Making a living in Matoaka
Only 6% stay in Matoaka for work; outside it, Princeton is the main destination (8%, 9 miles). 33 jobs are based in Matoaka, against 48 working residents. 93.3% of residents are in poverty, where West Virginia as a whole has 16.7%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Matoaka on a workday afternoon
On a workday 45 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15 people are in Matoaka on a workday afternoon, 50% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where Matoaka’s working residents head each day
Where Matoaka clocks in
8% of workers
8% of workers
2% 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.
Matoaka is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Matoaka, 2013 → 2023: 4 → 33. 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 Matoaka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Matoaka works
About 18% 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 Matoaka: questions
What is the median household income in Matoaka?
$16,786 (±$1,664) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Matoaka?
93.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Matoaka work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Princeton (8%, 9 mi), Beckley (8%, 25 mi), Pearisburg (2%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Matoaka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Matoaka
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.