Photo: Analogue Kid at en.wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Ravenswood trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
31.4% of residents are in poverty, where West Virginia as a whole has 16.7%. For jobs and income Ravenswood is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). 24% of workers work from home (West Virginia 9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Ravenswood in brief
Home offices are common in Ravenswood
24% of Ravenswood workers work from home, against 9% across West Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Ravenswood are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Ravenswood’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Ravenswood’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($34,241, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ravenswood could be anywhere from C− to C.
Time on the road from Ravenswood: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ravenswood workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 926 commuters (the 24% 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.
In and out of Ravenswood on a workday
On a workday 1,195 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 731 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Ravenswood on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.65 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 2024, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Ripley
Where Ravenswood clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Most jobs in Ravenswood are in services
868 jobs are based in Ravenswood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ravenswood, 2014 → 2024: 1,049 → 868. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ravenswood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Ravenswood
About 19% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Ravenswood is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,213 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). 35.4% of Ravenswood households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ravenswood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ravenswood is 3,230th among 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 708 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,395 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,228 | Morton Township MI | 4,766 | $73K | 17.4% | 4.3% | 9% | C− |
| 3,229 | Washington Township OH | 3,390 | $55K | 15.6% | 4.5% | 11% | C− |
| 3,230 | Ravenswood WV | 3,790 | $34K | 31.4% | 0.0% | 10% | C− |
| 3,231 | Oracle AZ | 3,146 | $64K | 13.4% | 3.6% | 7% | C− |
| 3,232 | Lexington OH | 4,848 | $52K | 13.7% | 6.0% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Ravenswood, 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 2024, 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 Ravenswood: questions
What is the median household income in Ravenswood?
$34,241 (±$13,598) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ravenswood?
31.4%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ravenswood?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ravenswood work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ripley (11%, 10 mi), Charleston (8%, 43 mi), Parkersburg (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Ravenswood walkable?
Ravenswood is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ravenswood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 35% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ravenswood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ravenswood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.