Work & commute · Smithers

Work & commute in Smithers, WV

Most working residents leave Smithers for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Charleston (15%), Beckley (7%) and Montgomery (6%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3 of 169 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

37%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 166 Smithers residents head out of town to work, 3 work right here, and 176 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Smithers.

166live here, work elsewhere

3live and work here

176work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Smithers goes to work

Charleston22.1 mi away

15%25

Beckley28.1 mi away

7%11

Montgomery1.3 mi away

6%10

Falls View3.3 mi away

5%8

Smithers (in town)right here

2%3

Ansted10.7 mi away

2%3

Fayetteville12.4 mi away

2%3

Morgantown125 mi away

2%3

Buckhannon81.2 mi away

1%2

Grafton106.6 mi away

1%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%99

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

How far

How far Smithers commutes

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

23%

29%

14%

34%

23%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Smithers is balanced between jobs and homes

1.06jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Smithers are

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

Jobs based in Smithers

179 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less35%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month24%

Jobs Smithers residents hold

169 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month46%

+43%

Jobs based in Smithers, 2013 → 2023: 125 → 179. 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.