Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Weston’s 16.2%
Home is the office for 1% of workers, where West Virginia as a whole has 9%. Weston grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Weston
Fewer jobs are based in Weston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Weston fell from 3,512 in 2013 to 1,807 in 2023, −49%. 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 ↓
Commutes from Weston are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Weston workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 9% across West Virginia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Weston’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Weston is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #57 of 61 in West Virginia. Job access by car holds Weston’s grade up (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Weston could be anywhere from D− to D.
What Weston’s employers do
1,807 jobs are based in Weston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Weston, 2013 → 2023: 3,512 → 1,807. 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 Weston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Weston takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Weston workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,405 commuters (the 1% 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.
Weston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,214 residents head out to work, 241 work right here, and 1,566 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 (1.24 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.
8% of working residents work in Bridgeport
Where Weston clocks in
8% of workers
3% 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 Weston
About 23% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Weston
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Weston is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #26 of 61 in West Virginia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,420 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). 12.4% of Weston households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Weston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Weston next to U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 730 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,034 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,428 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,124 | Georgetown OH | 4,450 | $42K | 38.4% | 5.4% | 17% | D |
| 4,125 | Brady TX | 4,980 | $46K | 14.0% | 10.0% | 42% | D |
| 4,126 | Weston WV | 3,736 | $52K | 23.0% | 16.2% | 17% | D |
| 4,127 | Watertown FL | 3,068 | $41K | 42.4% | 22.0% | 2% | D |
| 4,128 | Deer Creek Township IN | 3,538 | $42K | 23.4% | 12.5% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Weston, 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 Weston: questions
What is the median household income in Weston?
$52,070 (±$5,290) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Weston?
23.0%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Weston?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Weston work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bridgeport (8%, 22 mi), Morgantown (3%, 50 mi), Clarksburg (3%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Weston walkable?
Weston is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Weston 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 Weston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Weston
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.