Photo: Snoopywv · CC BY-SA 3.0Vienna’s household incomes are lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
10.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.7% across West Virginia. Jobs and income earn Vienna C+; getting around on foot earns it B. The average commute takes 21 minutes each way, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Vienna, in brief
Vienna trades workers with the towns around it
Vienna has about as many jobs (4,502) as working residents (4,489), but they are mostly different people: 4,000 residents leave for work each day while 4,013 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Vienna are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Vienna
55% of Vienna residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in Vienna pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Vienna and Parkersburg trade workers both ways
Parkersburg is the top workplace for Vienna residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Vienna come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Vienna residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Vienna are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Vienna’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vienna is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #21 of 61 in West Virginia. Unemployment holds Vienna’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($60,388, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vienna could be anywhere from C to B.
A workday in Vienna: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 4,000 residents head out to work, 489 work right here, and 4,013 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 (1.00 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.
What the 4,502 jobs in Vienna are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vienna, 2013 → 2023: 4,956 → 4,502. 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 Vienna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
33% of working residents work in Parkersburg
Where Vienna clocks in
33% of workers
5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Vienna
About 24% 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.
About 21 minutes each way for Vienna’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vienna workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,390 commuters (the 12% 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.
Driving is how Vienna gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vienna is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #38 of 61 in West Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 4,962 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). 3.1% of Vienna households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Vienna’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Vienna ranks: 1,878th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 640 | Bridgeport WV | 9,427 | $100K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 691 | Cheat Lake WV | 10,902 | $117K | 6.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,327 | Cross Lanes WV | 9,671 | $64K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,876 | Green OR | 7,541 | $67K | 10.6% | 3.1% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,877 | Hudson Falls NY | 7,333 | $63K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,878 | Vienna WV | 10,321 | $60K | 10.2% | 3.5% | 11% | C+ |
| 1,879 | South Ottawa Township IL | 8,299 | $84K | 13.5% | 4.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,880 | Batesville IN | 7,401 | $62K | 14.2% | 2.5% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Vienna, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
Next door is work for 33% of Vienna
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vienna workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vienna | – | C+ | B | 21 min | $60,388 |
| Parkersburg | 33% | D | A | 19 min | $49,025 |
| North Hills | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Hills: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Parkersburg. Darker towns draw more of Vienna’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Vienna: questions
What is the median household income in Vienna?
$60,388 (±$6,833) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vienna?
10.2%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vienna?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vienna work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parkersburg (33%, 4 mi), Marietta (5%, 8 mi), Charleston (3%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vienna walkable?
Vienna is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vienna without a car?
1% 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 Vienna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vienna
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.