West Union is a tiny town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 639 people and just one neighborhood, West Union is the 181st largest community in West Virginia. West Union has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
West Union is a blue-collar town, with 43.71% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, West Union is a town of professionals, production and manufacturing workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in West Union who work in legal occupations (10.69%), management occupations (7.50%), and healthcare (7.13%).
Also of interest is that West Union has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in West Union telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.32% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.
Being a small town, West Union does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
In terms of college education, the citizens of West Union rank slightly lower than the national average. 15.40% of adults 25 and older in West Union have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community.
The per capita income in West Union in 2022 was $43,108, which is wealthy relative to West Virginia, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $172,432 for a family of four. However, West Union contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call West Union home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Union residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in West Union include German, English, Jamaican, European, and Irish.
The most common language spoken in West Union is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Navajo.
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.
An interesting characteristic about the neighborhood is that there are more incarcerated people living here than 99.0% of neighborhoods in the U.S. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, currently with 1 out of every 100 adults in the country are incarcerated as a punishment for crimes committed. The extremely high incarceration rate of this neighborhood could mean that a prison, juvenile detention facility or other correctional facility occupies a large proportion of the neighborhood, or contains a large portion of the neighborhood's population.
More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the neighborhood than in 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 34 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 91.9% of America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 7.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Scottish 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 West Union are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 61.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 9.9% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 50.3% of America'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, 44.1% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 22.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (18.9%), and 14.9% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.2% of households. Some people also speak Italian (5.8%).
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 West Union, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (20.9%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (15.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (11.8%), and some of the residents are also of Scottish ancestry (7.2%), along with some French ancestry residents (2.9%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.7% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (83.4%) 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 (9.8%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.