Valley Head has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.0 for each
Working residents average 27 minutes each way; West Virginia averages 27, the U.S. 26. Employers in Valley Head report 2 jobs; 70 of its residents have a job. Hardly any stay in Valley Head for work; outside it, Elkins is the main destination (21%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Valley Head on a workday
On a workday 70 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 2 people come in from elsewhere.
About 390 people are in Valley Head on a workday afternoon, 15% 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.
Where people from Valley Head work
Where Valley Head clocks in
21% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
What Valley Head’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valley Head, 2013 → 2023: 17 → 2. 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 Valley Head’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Valley Head: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valley Head workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 188 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.
The distance from Valley Head to work
About 30% 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 Valley Head: questions
What is the median household income in Valley Head?
$83,125 (±$40,098) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valley Head?
0.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valley Head?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valley Head work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkins (21%, 28 mi), Charleston (6%, 88 mi), Beverly (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Valley Head without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valley Head, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valley Head
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.