Photo: Andrew Bain · CC BY-SA 3.0Moorefield draws 2,600 commuters a day, with 2.4 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns. 3,135 jobs are based in Moorefield, against 1,283 working residents. Jobs and income earn Moorefield C−; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Moorefield, in brief
Commutes from Moorefield are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Moorefield is where the jobs are
Moorefield has 3,135 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,500 people are in town, 70% more than the 2,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
Moorefield makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Moorefield are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Moorefield residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 43%. 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.
Inside Moorefield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Moorefield is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #40 of 61 in West Virginia. The poverty rate holds Moorefield’s grade up (8.1%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($49,063, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Moorefield could be anywhere from D to B.
Getting to work from Moorefield takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Moorefield workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 953 commuters (the 13% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Moorefield
On a workday 748 residents head out to work and 535 work right here.
About 4,500 people are in Moorefield on a workday afternoon, 70% 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.
Moorefield works in goods: 49% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Moorefield, 2013 → 2023: 4,062 → 3,135. 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 Moorefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Moorefield live
Where Moorefield clocks in
5% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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.
Miles to work from Moorefield
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.
Moorefield is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Moorefield is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #44 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Moorefield near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,097 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). 12.7% of Moorefield households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Moorefield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600, Moorefield ranks 3,571st of 4,797 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 976 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,379 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,388 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,569 | Vinton LA | 3,115 | $42K | 32.7% | 3.6% | 13% | C− |
| 3,570 | Elizabethtown NC | 3,306 | $29K | 33.0% | 0.0% | 20% | C− |
| 3,571 | Moorefield WV | 2,655 | $49K | 8.1% | 5.3% | 42% | C− |
| 3,572 | Cahokia Township IL | 3,084 | $57K | 15.1% | 4.7% | 2% | C− |
| 3,573 | Harlem FL | 2,420 | $46K | 6.7% | 12.3% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Moorefield, 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 Moorefield: questions
What is the median household income in Moorefield?
$49,063 (±$2,296) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Moorefield?
8.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Moorefield?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Moorefield work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Petersburg (5%, 10 mi), Washington (1%, 105 mi), Harrisonburg (1%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Moorefield walkable?
Moorefield is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Moorefield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Moorefield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Moorefield
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.