Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Monongah’s household incomes are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
Only 1% stay in Monongah for work; outside it, Fairmont is the main destination (15%, 4 miles). The poverty rate is 12.1%, where West Virginia as a whole has 16.7%. Monongah grades C− 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
What sets Monongah apart on work
Monongah and Fairmont trade workers both ways
Fairmont is the top workplace for Monongah residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Monongah come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The jobs in Monongah pay better than its residents’ jobs
77% of the jobs based in Monongah pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 53% of the jobs Monongah residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Monongah. The jobs ↓
Monongah makes and builds things
50% of the jobs based in Monongah are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Monongah residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. 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 365 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Monongah’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Monongah is better than 25% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Monongah’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($50,875, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.1%) is left out: Monongah’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Monongah could be anywhere from D to B−.
The towns that employ Monongah’s residents
Where Monongah clocks in
15% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
Goods jobs make up 50% of work in Monongah
359 jobs are based in Monongah.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monongah, 2013 → 2023: 211 → 359. 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 Monongah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Monongah for work, and who comes in
On a workday 360 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 354 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 (0.98 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 Monongah: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monongah workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 364 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 many miles Monongah commutes
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 Monongah, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Monongah is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of 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 383 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). 8.4% of Monongah households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monongah’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Monongah ranks: 1,920th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 374 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 481 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 630 | Shenandoah Junction WV | 1,141 | $95K | 8.2% | 0.0% | 0% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,918 | Ennis MT | 1,126 | $70K | 9.4% | 1.1% | 14% | C− |
| 1,919 | Moravia NY | 1,233 | $63K | 10.6% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| 1,920 | Monongah WV | 1,055 | $51K | 12.1% | 6.1% | 1% | C− |
| 1,921 | Ricks Township IL | 1,152 | $79K | 14.7% | 1.6% | 3% | C− |
| 1,922 | Caledonia Township MI | 1,071 | $72K | 9.2% | 3.0% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Monongah, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
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 Monongah: questions
What is the median household income in Monongah?
$50,875 (±$15,345) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monongah?
12.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monongah?
22 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 Monongah work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fairmont (15%, 4 mi), Morgantown (8%, 19 mi), Bridgeport (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monongah walkable?
Monongah is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monongah without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monongah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monongah
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.