Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Smithers
37% of workers have no commute at all, next to 9% for West Virginia as a whole. Only 2% work in Smithers itself; outside it, Charleston draws the most (15%, 22 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 17 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Smithers: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 166 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 176 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 (1.06 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.
The places Smithers commutes to
Where Smithers clocks in
15% of workers
7% 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.
Jobs in Smithers: what the 179 are
179 jobs are based in Smithers.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithers, 2013 → 2023: 125 → 179. 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 Smithers’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of West Virginia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithers workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 186 commuters (the 37% 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.
The commute from Smithers, by distance
About 34% 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.
Smithers and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Montgomery (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Smithers workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | – | — | — | 17 min | $45,417 |
| Montgomery | 6% | D− | A | 24 min | $27,679 |
| Boomer | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Boomer: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Smithers’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 Smithers: questions
What is the median household income in Smithers?
$45,417 (±$30,463) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithers?
25.7%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithers?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithers work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (15%, 22 mi), Beckley (7%, 28 mi), Montgomery (6%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Smithers without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smithers, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithers
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.