Photo: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore · CC BY-SA 4.0Williamson has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Williamson is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Below the poverty line: 49.1% of residents, next to 16.7% for West Virginia as a whole. Jobs and income earn Williamson D−; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Williamson and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Williamson than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Williamson fell from 1,957 in 2013 to 1,282 in 2023, −34%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Williamson workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Williamson’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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; with 983 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Williamson’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Williamson is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #60 of 61 in West Virginia. Job access by car holds Williamson’s grade up (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($21,875, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (13.6%) is left out: Williamson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Williamson stays D−.
In Williamson, services account for most jobs
1,282 jobs are based in Williamson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williamson, 2013 → 2023: 1,957 → 1,282. 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 Williamson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Williamson
About 31% 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.
How many people are in Williamson by day
On a workday 769 residents head out to work, 214 work right here, and 1,068 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Williamson on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
6% of working residents work in South Williamson
Where Williamson clocks in
6% 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.
Commuting from Williamson: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williamson workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 552 commuters (the 10% 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.
Getting around Williamson: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Williamson is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #55 of 61 in West Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 615 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). 29.5% of Williamson households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williamson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Williamson sits among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,433 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,442 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,915 | Flemingsburg KY | 3,005 | $35K | 34.3% | 20.5% | 24% | D− |
| 4,916 | Hominy OK | 3,293 | $37K | 27.1% | 11.9% | 11% | D− |
| 4,917 | Williamson WV | 2,753 | $22K | 49.1% | 13.6% | 22% | D− |
| 4,918 | Van Buren ME | 1,985 | $40K | 23.0% | 0.3% | 33% | D− |
| 4,919 | Hillman Township MI | 2,151 | $43K | 24.4% | 3.7% | 19% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Williamson, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
How Williamson compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to South Williamson (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Williamson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamson | – | D− | C | 27 min | $21,875 |
| Chattaroy | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Chattaroy: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Williamson’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 Williamson: questions
What is the median household income in Williamson?
$21,875 (±$4,861) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williamson?
49.1%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williamson?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williamson work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Williamson (6%, 1 mi), Pikeville (6%, 20 mi), Charleston (4%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williamson walkable?
Williamson is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williamson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 30% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williamson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williamson
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.