Work & commute · Oceana

Work & commute in Oceana, WV

Most working residents leave Oceana for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Pineville (14%), Beckley (5%) and Charleston (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27 of 308 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 281 Oceana residents head out of town to work, 27 work right here, and 674 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oceana.

281live here, work elsewhere

27live and work here

674work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oceana goes to work

Pineville8.9 mi away

14%42

Oceana (in town)right here

9%27

Beckley26.2 mi away

5%15

Charleston45.3 mi away

4%11

Mullens15.4 mi away

2%7

Welch18.5 mi away

2%6

South Charleston44.9 mi away

2%5

Gilbert14.2 mi away

1%4

Princeton36.9 mi away

1%4

Huntington66.1 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%183

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

How far

How far Oceana commutes

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

34%

27%

19%

34%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oceana is a job hub

2.28jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Oceana are

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

Jobs based in Oceana

701 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month47%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs Oceana residents hold

308 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+104%

Jobs based in Oceana, 2013 → 2023: 344 → 701. 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.