Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in St. Albans have lower incomes than those in 83% of U.S. towns
St. Albans grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. 14.1% of residents are in poverty (West Virginia 16.7%). Only 8% stay in St. Albans for work; outside it, Charleston is the main destination (31%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets St. Albans apart on work
31% of St. Albans works in Charleston
1,503 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Charleston, 10 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in St. Albans itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from St. Albans are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 46 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in St. Albans
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Albans is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #31 of 61 in West Virginia. Job access by car holds St. Albans’ grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($53,972, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Albans could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where people from St. Albans work
Where St. Albans clocks in
31% of workers
10% 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.
A commute of about 21 minutes in St. Albans
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Albans workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,728 commuters (the 13% 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.
Who commutes out of St. Albans, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,460 residents head out to work, 376 work right here, and 2,987 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,700 people are in St. Albans on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.70 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 2023, primary jobs.
The 3,363 jobs based in St. Albans
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Albans, 2013 → 2023: 3,720 → 3,363. 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 St. Albans’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far St. Albans’ workers travel
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.
St. Albans is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Albans is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #14 of 61 in West Virginia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 8.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,288 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). 10.4% of St. Albans households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of St. Albans’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000, St. Albans ranks 2,234th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 640 | Bridgeport WV | 9,427 | $100K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 691 | Cheat Lake WV | 10,902 | $117K | 6.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,327 | Cross Lanes WV | 9,671 | $64K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,232 | Kelso WA | 12,801 | $67K | 12.0% | 6.6% | 12% | C |
| 2,233 | South Charleston WV | 13,072 | $64K | 16.9% | 7.0% | 16% | C |
| 2,234 | St. Albans WV | 10,210 | $54K | 14.1% | 5.4% | 8% | C |
| 2,235 | Seneca Falls NY | 8,845 | $62K | 15.9% | 4.4% | 21% | C |
| 2,236 | Hazle Township PA | 10,460 | $59K | 16.8% | 5.0% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 St. Albans, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Around St. Albans: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Albans workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Albans | – | C | A | 21 min | $53,972 |
| Jefferson | under 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Jefferson: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Albans’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 St. Albans: questions
What is the median household income in St. Albans?
$53,972 (±$6,279) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Albans?
14.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Albans?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Albans work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (31%, 10 mi), South Charleston (10%, 6 mi), Teays Valley (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Albans walkable?
St. Albans is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Albans without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Albans, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Albans
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. 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.