Photo: Coal town guy · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Mount Carbon commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any stay in Mount Carbon for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (14%, 23 miles). Employers in Mount Carbon report 11 jobs, against 123 working residents. 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
Mount Carbon quiets down on a workday
On a workday 122 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 10 people come in from elsewhere.
About 240 people are in Mount Carbon on a workday afternoon, 32% 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 Mount Carbon’s working residents head each day
Where Mount Carbon clocks in
14% 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.
In Mount Carbon, 73% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Carbon, 2013 → 2023: 16 → 11. 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 Mount Carbon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Mount Carbon
of Mount Carbon workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 168 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 Mount Carbon
About 24% 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.
Around Mount Carbon: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Carbon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Carbon | – | — | — | — | $250,000+ |
| Kimberly | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Boomer | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kimberly and Boomer: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mount Carbon’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Mount Carbon: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Carbon?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Carbon?
0.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Mount Carbon work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (14%, 23 mi), Montgomery (6%, 3 mi), Beckley (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mount Carbon without a car?
0% 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 Mount Carbon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Carbon
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.