Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Fewer people are out of work in St. Marys (1.6%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
St. Marys grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in seven work in St. Marys itself; outside it, Parkersburg draws the most (13%, 20 miles). Working residents average 25 minutes each way, next to 27 for West Virginia and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where St. Marys stands out on work
St. Marys is where the jobs are
St. Marys has 1,160 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of St. Marys’ workers comes from Parkersburg
66 of the people who work in St. Marys live in Parkersburg, 20 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in St. Marys than ten years ago
Jobs counted in St. Marys fell from 1,657 in 2014 to 1,160 in 2024, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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; with 727 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
St. Marys’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Marys is better than 56% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds St. Marys’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Marys could be anywhere from C to B+.
The workday shuffle in and out of St. Marys
On a workday 623 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 1,056 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in St. Marys on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 St. Marys’s workers come from
Where St. Marys clocks in
13% 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 St. Marys: what the 1,160 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Marys, 2014 → 2024: 1,657 → 1,160. 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 St. Marys’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for St. Marys’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Marys workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,095 commuters (the 10% 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 distance from St. Marys to work
About 22% 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 St. Marys walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Marys is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across West Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,210 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). 3.2% of St. Marys households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Marys’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, St. Marys is 1,968th of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,395 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,507 | Eleanor WV | 1,497 | $79K | 5.9% | 0.6% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,913 | Falling Waters WV | 2,183 | $88K | 4.3% | 10.8% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,966 | McQueeney TX | 2,392 | $98K | 13.0% | 5.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,967 | Nora Springs IA | 1,316 | $79K | 5.3% | 0.6% | 6% | B |
| 1,968 | St. Marys WV | 1,746 | $64K | 6.7% | 1.6% | 14% | B |
| 1,969 | Milford Township KS | 1,627 | $94K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,970 | Owls Head ME | 1,494 | $87K | 5.7% | 3.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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. Marys, 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 St. Marys: questions
What is the median household income in St. Marys?
$63,547 (±$13,391) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Marys?
6.7%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Marys?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Marys work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parkersburg (13%, 20 mi), Marietta (6%, 13 mi), Belmont (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is St. Marys walkable?
St. Marys is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Marys without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Marys, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Marys
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.