Work & commute · Prosperity

Work & commute in Prosperity, WV

Most working residents leave Prosperity for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Beckley (32%), Charleston (6%) and Oak Hill (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

25 of 433 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 408 Prosperity residents head out of town to work, 25 work right here, and 1,351 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Prosperity.

408live here, work elsewhere

25live and work here

1,351work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Prosperity goes to work

Beckley4.9 mi away

32%137

Prosperity (in town)right here

6%25

Charleston42.5 mi away

6%24

Oak Hill9.5 mi away

3%13

Sophia9.6 mi away

1%6

Bluefield39.8 mi away

1%5

Crab Orchard7 mi away

1%5

MacArthur6.2 mi away

1%5

Fayetteville16.3 mi away

1%4

South Charleston44.6 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%205

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

How far

How far Prosperity commutes

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

57%

11%

18%

14%

57%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Prosperity is a job hub

3.18jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Prosperity are

1,376 jobs are based in Prosperity. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Prosperity’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Prosperity

1,376 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities31%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month45%

Over $3,333 a month32%

Jobs Prosperity residents hold

433 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+97%

Jobs based in Prosperity, 2013 → 2023: 698 → 1,376. 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.