Kanawha County · West Virginia
Charleston, WV jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Charleston, WV earn a median of $40,893 a year, 8% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 6.3% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 29.6% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $40,893#60 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 6.3%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 58.8%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 22,025Civilian employed, age 16+
What Charleston does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance29.6%
- Professional, scientific & management12.7%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food11.5%
- Retail trade9.5%
- Public administration9.2%
- Finance, insurance & real estate7.4%
- Other services, except public administration6.2%
- Manufacturing4%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities3.1%
- Construction2.5%
- Information2.1%
- Wholesale trade1.2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining1.1%
Related data for Charleston
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.