Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Summersville has 2.3 jobs for every working resident: 2,889 people commute in to work
Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns. There are 3,328 jobs in Summersville, and 1,430 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Summersville is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Summersville: the gist
Summersville is where the jobs are
Summersville has 3,328 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,200 people are in town, 58% more than the 3,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Summersville than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Summersville fell from 4,541 in 2013 to 3,328 in 2023, −27%. 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Summersville
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Summersville’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Summersville could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Summersville fills up on a workday
On a workday 991 residents head out to work and 439 work right here.
About 5,200 people are in Summersville on a workday afternoon, 58% more 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 kinds of work in Summersville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Summersville, 2013 → 2023: 4,541 → 3,328. 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 Summersville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Summersville’s workforce comes from
Where Summersville clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 26 minutes each way, about the WV average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Summersville workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 915 commuters (the 9% 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 Summersville
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Summersville: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of 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 1,011 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). 11.9% of Summersville households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Summersville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Summersville sits among U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 730 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,040 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,447 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Taylorsville NC | 2,333 | $39K | 27.7% | 1.9% | 12% | D |
| 4,154 | Reynoldsville PA | 2,473 | $53K | 19.8% | 8.0% | 12% | D |
| 4,155 | Summersville WV | 3,297 | $57K | 20.3% | 6.3% | 31% | D |
| 4,156 | Santo Domingo Pueblo NM | 2,370 | $57K | 23.1% | 9.1% | 15% | D |
| 4,157 | Salina UT | 2,640 | $64K | 15.7% | 10.5% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Summersville, 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 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 Summersville: questions
What is the median household income in Summersville?
$56,571 (±$16,154) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Summersville?
20.3%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Summersville?
26 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 Summersville work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (5%, 43 mi), Beckley (5%, 40 mi), Fayetteville (2%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Summersville walkable?
Summersville is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Summersville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Summersville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Summersville
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.