Almost no one in Pinch’s labor force is looking for work
19% of workers work from home (West Virginia 9%). For jobs and income Pinch is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D). Only 1% work in Pinch itself; outside it, Charleston draws the most (41%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Pinch: the gist
41% of Pinch works in Charleston
460 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Charleston, 9.3 miles away. That’s 41 times as many as work in Pinch itself. The commute map ↓
Pinch is a place people come home to
There are 169 jobs based in Pinch, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Pinch
19% of Pinch workers work from home, against 9% across West Virginia. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Pinch gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($76,741, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pinch could be anywhere from B to A.
Where people from Pinch work
Where Pinch clocks in
41% of workers
9% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Pinch
On a workday 1,111 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 155 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Pinch on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.15 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.
Getting to work from Pinch takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pinch workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,119 commuters (the 19% 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.
Jobs in Pinch: what the 169 are
169 jobs are based in Pinch.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pinch, 2013 → 2023: 165 → 169. 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 Pinch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Pinch
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 Pinch, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,377 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). 3.7% of Pinch households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pinch’s commuters take a bus or train.
733rd of 4,177: where Pinch ranks among U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 731 | Bagdad FL | 4,466 | $82K | 4.4% | 1.2% | 1% | A− |
| 732 | Claryville KY | 3,251 | $81K | 1.2% | 2.9% | 2% | A− |
| 733 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 734 | Lake Helen FL | 2,994 | $116K | 6.9% | 3.7% | 2% | A− |
| 735 | Euharlee GA | 4,202 | $100K | 2.9% | 1.9% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,040 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,438 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,671 | Kenova WV | 2,841 | $54K | 9.0% | 0.0% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Pinch, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
The towns around Pinch
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pinch workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinch | – | A− | D | 24 min | $76,741 |
| Elkview | 1% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Elkview: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Elkview. Darker towns draw more of Pinch’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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Pinch: questions
What is the median household income in Pinch?
$76,741 (±$24,462) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pinch?
5.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pinch?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pinch work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (41%, 9 mi), South Charleston (9%, 13 mi), St. Albans (2%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pinch walkable?
Pinch is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pinch without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pinch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pinch
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.