Photo: Coal town guy · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Raleigh works elsewhere
For 14% of workers, the job is at home, where West Virginia as a whole has 9%. 7 jobs are based in Raleigh, and 81 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Raleigh: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 81 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere.
About 250 people are in Raleigh on a workday afternoon, 23% 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.
32% of working residents work in Beckley
Where Raleigh clocks in
32% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Raleigh, 2013 → 2023: 4 → 7. 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 Raleigh’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Raleigh
of Raleigh workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 163 commuters (the 14% 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 Raleigh
About 20% 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.
Bordering towns draw 32% of Raleigh’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Beckley. Darker towns draw more of Raleigh’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 Raleigh: questions
What is the median household income in Raleigh?
$47,788 (±$38,571) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Raleigh?
0.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Raleigh work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beckley (32%, 1 mi), Sophia (4%, 6 mi), Charleston (4%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Raleigh 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 Raleigh, from the people who make the trip.
More of Raleigh
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.