Photo: Justin.A.Wilcox · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Springfield works elsewhere
Employers in Springfield report 23 jobs; 187 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Springfield itself; outside it, Romney draws the most (6%, 8 miles). Commuters spend 40 minutes getting to work on average; West Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Springfield on a workday afternoon
On a workday 186 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 22 people come in from elsewhere.
About 340 people are in Springfield on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
The places Springfield commutes to
Where Springfield clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
2% 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.
The kinds of work in Springfield
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield, 2013 → 2023: 4 → 23. 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 Springfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Springfield: about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 186 commuters (the 12% 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.
Miles to work from Springfield
About 39% 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 Springfield: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield?
$62,014 (±$56,276) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield?
5.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Romney (6%, 8 mi), Winchester (6%, 34 mi), Martinsburg (2%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Springfield 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 Springfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield
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.