Work & commute · Cheat Lake

Work & commute in Cheat Lake, WV

Most working residents leave Cheat Lake for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Morgantown (40%), Westover (3%) and Fairmont (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

285 of 4,609 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,324 Cheat Lake residents head out of town to work, 285 work right here, and 1,756 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cheat Lake.

4,324live here, work elsewhere

285live and work here

1,756work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cheat Lake goes to work

Morgantown5.6 mi away

40%1,855

Cheat Lake (in town)right here

6%285

Westover7.8 mi away

3%139

Fairmont20.6 mi away

2%94

Bridgeport32.6 mi away

2%82

Star City7.4 mi away

2%70

Granville8 mi away

1%61

Clarksburg38.6 mi away

1%58

Charleston132 mi away

1%56

Brookhaven4.4 mi away

1%38

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%1,871

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

How far

How far Cheat Lake commutes

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

71%

12%

71%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cheat Lake is a commuter town

0.44jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.44 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Cheat Lake are

2,041 jobs are based in Cheat Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cheat Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cheat Lake

2,041 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Cheat Lake residents hold

4,609 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+54%

Jobs based in Cheat Lake, 2013 → 2023: 1,322 → 2,041. 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.