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These Are The 10 Hardest Working Places In West Virginia

By Chris Kolmar
May. 10, 2016

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America has been known as the land of opportunity for as long as I can remember. It’s the one place in the world where if you bare down and work your nose to the grindstone, you can make a better life for your family and yourself.

And while everyone in West Virginia works hard, there’s a certain part of the Mountain State that takes the Puritan work ethic to the extreme — the hardest working places in West Virginia .

Who’s the leader of this work around the clock ethos? That would be Cheat Lake which takes top honors for the hardest working place in West Virginia. People work so hard there they manage to make getting to work a job.

So what other places burn the midnight oil to bring home a large piece of bacon? You’re going to have to get to the office early and stay late on Fridays to beat out these places in West Virginia for a promotion:

  1. Cheat Lake
  2. Brookhaven
  3. Teays Valley
  4. Cross Lanes
  5. Bridgeport
  6. Sissonville
  7. Hurricane
  8. Charleston
  9. Charles Town
  10. South Charleston

So listen up Keyser as we explain how we created this ranking, you could learn some things from the rest of the state.

For more WV reading, check out:

How We Determined The Hardest Working Places In The Mountain State

Like all problems here at Zippia, we start with the data to answer the hard questions. Some might even consider us the hardest working data-crunchers this side of the Mississippi.

In this particular case, we went to the latest version of the American Community Survey looking for answers. As luck would have it, the Census Bureau just released the 2009-2014 5-Yr Estimate which would make this analysis the first of its kind with the new data.

After scrolling through what seemed like hundreds of criteria, we settled on this set for each State:

  • Average hours worked
  • Average commute time
  • Workers per household (Employed labor force divided by the number households)
  • Labor force participation rate
  • Adults with a college degree

Our thinking went something along these lines: if you spent the many years getting a degree, are actively seeking employment, work a ton of hours when employed, and spend forever getting to work, you get the Zippia hardworking stamp of approval.

After we got the data for all 33 places in West Virginia, we ranked each place from 1 to 33 for each of the criteria with 1 being the “hardest working”.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each to create a hardworking index.

Finally, we crowned the place with the lowest hard working index the “Hardest Working Place In West Virginia”. And, at the end of the day, Cheat Lake had its hard work pay off.

Read the detailed chart below to learn a bit more about why each place ranked where it did.

1. Cheat Lake

Population: 9,220 College Graduates: 52.6%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 39.7
Workers Per Household: 1.5

2. Brookhaven

Population: 5,412 College Graduates: 30.3%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 40.9
Workers Per Household: 1.4

3. Teays Valley

Population: 13,461 College Graduates: 37.1%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 39.6
Workers Per Household: 1.2

4. Cross Lanes

Population: 11,061 College Graduates: 31.4%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 39.6
Workers Per Household: 1.4

5. Bridgeport

Population: 8,316 College Graduates: 43.5%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 38.9
Workers Per Household: 1.3

6. Sissonville

Population: 5,017 College Graduates: 26.0%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 42.1
Workers Per Household: 1.1

7. Hurricane

Population: 6,352 College Graduates: 28.0%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 38.6
Workers Per Household: 1.2

8. Charleston

Population: 50,911 College Graduates: 39.3%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 39.5
Workers Per Household: 1.1

9. Charles Town

Welcome to the

Population: 5,464 College Graduates: 29.6%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 39.2
Workers Per Household: 1.3

10. South Charleston

Population: 13,380 College Graduates: 30.1%
Average Hours Worked Per Week: 38.8
Workers Per Household: 1.1

Detailed List Of Hardest Places In West Virginia

CityRankPopulationCollege GraduatesAverage Hours Worked Per WeekWorkers Per Household

Cheat Lake 1 9,220 52.6% 39.7 1.5
Brookhaven 2 5,412 30.3% 40.9 1.4
Teays Valley 3 13,461 37.1% 39.6 1.2
Cross Lanes 4 11,061 31.4% 39.6 1.4
Bridgeport 5 8,316 43.5% 38.9 1.3
Sissonville 6 5,017 26.0% 42.1 1.1
Hurricane 7 6,352 28.0% 38.6 1.2
Charleston 8 50,911 39.3% 39.5 1.1
Charles Town 9 5,464 29.6% 39.2 1.3
South Charleston 10 13,380 30.1% 38.8 1.1
Pea Ridge 11 6,321 40.1% 38.2 1.2
Morgantown 12 30,133 47.8% 30.9 1.5
Nitro 13 6,860 18.6% 40.0 1.1
Fairmont 14 18,746 23.7% 37.6 1.2
St. Albans 15 10,939 24.2% 38.7 1.1
Clarksburg 16 16,437 21.3% 40.2 1.2
Vienna 17 10,654 25.7% 38.2 1.1
Wheeling 18 28,129 28.0% 37.8 1.1
Weirton 19 19,523 19.8% 39.3 1.1
Buckhannon 20 5,646 27.7% 34.0 1.2
Bluefield 21 10,465 24.0% 37.8 1.0
Beckley 22 17,529 24.0% 38.9 1.1
Elkins 23 7,241 29.5% 36.9 1.2
Oak Hill 24 8,270 15.7% 39.6 1.0
Martinsburg 25 17,508 19.6% 38.2 1.2
Huntington 26 49,053 28.7% 36.7 1.0
Dunbar 27 7,844 20.0% 38.0 1.1
Princeton 28 6,387 19.3% 40.2 0.8
New Martinsville 29 5,322 14.1% 37.6 0.9
Parkersburg 30 31,195 14.5% 37.7 1.1
Moundsville 31 8,960 12.0% 39.4 1.0
Grafton 32 5,179 8.8% 39.2 0.9
Keyser 33 5,350 15.5% 35.8 1.0
Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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