Sophia is a very small town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 1,082 people and just one neighborhood, Sophia is the 148th largest community in West Virginia.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Sophia is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Sophia is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Sophia who work in office and administrative support (10.69%), sales jobs (10.69%), and food service (10.48%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.06% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Sophia has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Sophia has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Sophia than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Sophia may be for you.
Sophia is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
In Sophia, just 8.25% of people over 25 hold a college degree, which is very low compared to the rest of the nation, whereas the average among all cities is 21.84%.
The per capita income in Sophia in 2022 was $25,065, which is middle income relative to West Virginia, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $100,260 for a family of four. However, Sophia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Sophia also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 30.43% of its population below the federal poverty line.
The people who call Sophia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Sophia residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Sophia include English, Irish, German, Liberian, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Sophia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
One of the unique characteristics of the neighborhood revealed by analysis is that the per capita income of residents here is lower than that found in 95.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more English and Hungarian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 45.9% of this neighborhood's residents have English ancestry and 1.9% have Hungarian ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Sophia are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 95.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 44.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 91.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 34.6% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 29.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (22.7%), and 12.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.1% of households. Some people also speak Italian (2.3%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Sophia, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (45.9%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (6.2%), and residents who report Sub-Saharan African roots (5.8%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (5.4%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (3.5%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (42.3% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (82.2%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (7.9%) and 5.4% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.