How Reader works: jobs, income and commuting
There are 69 jobs in Reader, and 77 of its residents work somewhere. 0% of workers have no commute at all, next to 9% for West Virginia as a whole. Only 3% work in Reader itself; outside it, New Martinsville draws the most (18%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Reader by day and by night
On a workday 75 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 67 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).
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 people from Reader work
Where Reader clocks in
18% of workers
6% 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.
Reader is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Reader, 2013 → 2023: 76 → 69. 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 Reader’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Reader
of Reader workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 97 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Reader
About 18% 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.
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 Reader: questions
What is the median household income in Reader?
$63,942 (±$17,653) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Reader?
13.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Reader work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Martinsville (18%, 9 mi), Pine Grove (8%, 2 mi), Wheeling (6%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Reader without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Reader, from the people who make the trip.
More of Reader
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.