With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Shannondale works elsewhere
Shannondale grades C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. There are 106 jobs in Shannondale for 1,461 working residents. Only 1% stay in Shannondale for work; outside it, Ranson corporation is the main destination (4%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Shannondale in brief
Shannondale workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 49 minutes each way, against 27 across West Virginia. Over a year that’s about 376 hours of commuting, 169 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Shannondale is a place people come home to
There are 106 jobs based in Shannondale, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Shannondale has about 2,100 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Why Shannondale gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shannondale is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #24 of 61 in West Virginia. Household income holds Shannondale’s grade up ($80,000, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shannondale could be anywhere from D to A−.
How long Shannondale spends getting to work: about 49 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shannondale workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,548 commuters (the 15% 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.
How many people are in Shannondale by day
On a workday 1,440 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 85 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Shannondale on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Shannondale goes to work
Where Shannondale clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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 Shannondale, 2014 → 2024: 65 → 106. 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 Shannondale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Shannondale works
About 17% 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.
Few in Shannondale walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shannondale is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns, #61 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Shannondale near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,824 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). 5.5% of Shannondale households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Shannondale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700, Shannondale comes 2,955th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 743 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,057 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,455 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,953 | Orange Township IN | 3,959 | $66K | 14.6% | 4.1% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,954 | Pymatuning Township PA | 3,031 | $55K | 16.8% | 2.8% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,955 | Shannondale WV | 3,465 | $80K | 13.3% | 5.6% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,956 | Echols County GA | 3,685 | $59K | 14.2% | 1.7% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,957 | Elkton VA | 3,136 | $62K | 9.9% | 4.3% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Shannondale, 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 Shannondale: questions
What is the median household income in Shannondale?
$80,000 (±$26,237) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shannondale?
13.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shannondale?
49 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shannondale work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ranson corporation (4%, 8 mi), Leesburg (4%, 15 mi), Chantilly (3%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Shannondale walkable?
Shannondale is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shannondale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shannondale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shannondale
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.