Photo: Tim Kiser (w:user:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Thomas at work: jobs, income and the commute
A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. Only 8% work in Thomas itself; outside it, Parsons draws the most (16%, 11 miles). Thomas has 294 jobs; 239 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Thomas stands out on work
Thomas’ commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomas workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 165 commuters (the 15% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Thomas
On a workday 220 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 275 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Thomas’ working residents head each day
Where Thomas clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
Thomas is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomas, 2013 → 2023: 316 → 294. 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 Thomas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Thomas, by distance
About 25% 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 Thomas: questions
What is the median household income in Thomas?
$56,042 (±$7,998) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomas?
19.6%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomas?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomas work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parsons (16%, 11 mi), Elkins (6%, 25 mi), Charleston (3%, 128 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Thomas without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomas
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.