Work & commute · Sophia

Work & commute in Sophia, WV

Most working residents leave Sophia for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Beckley (20%), Charleston (8%) and South Charleston (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10 of 249 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 239 Sophia residents head out of town to work, 10 work right here, and 841 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sophia.

239live here, work elsewhere

10live and work here

841work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sophia goes to work

Beckley6.8 mi away

20%51

Charleston48.9 mi away

8%20

Sophia (in town)right here

4%10

South Charleston50.3 mi away

3%7

Prosperity9.6 mi away

2%5

Oak Hill19 mi away

2%4

MacArthur4 mi away

2%4

Daniels6.8 mi away

2%4

Huntington80.6 mi away

1%3

Crab Orchard2.6 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%138

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

How far

How far Sophia commutes

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

47%

12%

18%

23%

47%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sophia is a job hub

3.42jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Sophia are

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

Jobs based in Sophia

851 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)49%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)25%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Sophia residents hold

249 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month47%

−17%

Jobs based in Sophia, 2013 → 2023: 1,029 → 851. 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.