Work & commute · Charleston

Work & commute in Charleston, WV

49% of Charleston’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are South Charleston (9%), Huntington (2%) and Dunbar (2%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

49%

9,691 of 19,622 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,931 Charleston residents head out of town to work, 9,691 work right here, and 44,380 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Charleston.

9,931live here, work elsewhere

9,691live and work here

44,380work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Charleston goes to work

Charleston (in town)right here

49%9,691

South Charleston4.3 mi away

9%1,700

Huntington43.7 mi away

2%490

Dunbar5.8 mi away

2%357

Teays Valley17.2 mi away

2%352

Beckley47.3 mi away

1%292

St. Albans10.3 mi away

1%221

Cross Lanes9.9 mi away

1%195

Nitro10.5 mi away

1%161

Barboursville36.1 mi away

1%131

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%6,032

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Charleston commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

70%

11%

10%

70%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Charleston is a job hub

2.76jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Charleston are

54,071 jobs are based in Charleston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charleston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Charleston

54,071 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Charleston residents hold

19,622 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month54%

−11%

Jobs based in Charleston, 2013 → 2023: 60,683 → 54,071. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.