Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0Terra Alta has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns. Employers in Terra Alta report 186 jobs, against 492 working residents. The two grades for Terra Alta are D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Terra Alta
The four measures behind Terra Alta’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Terra Alta is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Terra Alta’s grade.
Unemployment (9.5%) is left out: Terra Alta’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Terra Alta could be anywhere from D− to C.
Jobs in Terra Alta: what the 186 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Terra Alta, 2013 → 2023: 388 → 186. 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 Terra Alta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Terra Alta
On a workday 473 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Terra Alta on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
11% of working residents work in Oakland
Where Terra Alta clocks in
11% of workers
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.
How long Terra Alta spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Terra Alta workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 761 commuters (the 3% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Terra Alta
About 19% 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.
Terra Alta is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Terra Alta is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Terra Alta near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 785 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). 15.1% of Terra Alta households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Terra Alta’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Terra Alta compares with U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 799 | Belle WV | 1,088 | $77K | 3.3% | 10.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,016 | Barrackville WV | 1,196 | $79K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,197 | Coal Fork WV | 1,423 | $70K | 2.3% | 29.5% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Falls City OR | 1,042 | $51K | 19.8% | 7.4% | 1% | D− |
| 5,405 | Everett PA | 1,732 | $39K | 24.5% | 5.0% | 9% | D− |
| 5,406 | Terra Alta WV | 1,413 | $51K | 29.1% | 9.5% | 4% | D− |
| 5,407 | Belington WV | 1,809 | $49K | 25.2% | 5.7% | 14% | D− |
| 5,408 | Phillips Township IL | 1,049 | $54K | 21.6% | 1.1% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Terra Alta, 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 Terra Alta: questions
What is the median household income in Terra Alta?
$50,536 (±$17,794) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Terra Alta?
29.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Terra Alta?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Terra Alta work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oakland (11%, 8 mi), Kingwood (5%, 8 mi), Morgantown (5%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Terra Alta walkable?
Terra Alta is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Terra Alta without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Terra Alta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Terra Alta
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.