Coal City - Ghent is a somewhat small town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 5,323 people and just one neighborhood, Coal City - Ghent is the 26th largest community in West Virginia.
When you are in Coal City - Ghent, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 46.91% of Coal City - Ghent’s employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 27.7% that do. Overall, Coal City - Ghent is a town of construction workers and builders, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Coal City - Ghent who work in sales jobs (9.37%), maintenance occupations (8.69%), and healthcare (8.57%).
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!) Coal City - Ghent 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. Coal City - Ghent has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Coal City - Ghent than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Coal City - Ghent may be for you.
One downside of living in Coal City - Ghent is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Coal City - Ghent, the average commute to work is 32.36 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
As is often the case in a small town, Coal City - Ghent doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The population of Coal City - Ghent has a very low overall level of education: only 9.84% of people over 25 hold a 4-year college degree or higher.
The per capita income in Coal City - Ghent in 2022 was $26,741, 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 $106,964 for a family of four. However, Coal City - Ghent contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Coal City - Ghent home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Coal City - Ghent residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Coal City - Ghent include English, German, Irish, Scottish, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Coal City - Ghent is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
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.
NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research identifies the neighborhood as having one of the highest concentrations of people employed in manufacturing or as laborers of any neighborhood in America. In fact, despite the loss of manufacturing jobs nationally, this neighborhood has 46.9% of its working residents employed in such fields, which is a higher proportion than 98.1% of American neighborhoods.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 10.3% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.0% of all neighborhoods in America.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 43 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 90.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more English ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 38.0% of this neighborhood's residents have English 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 Coal City - Ghent are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 77.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 26.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 77.5% 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, 46.9% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer 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 25.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in executive, management, and professional occupations (22.1%), and 11.6% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 100.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
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 Coal City - Ghent, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (38.0%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (12.1%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.1%), and some of the residents are also of Scottish ancestry (3.1%), along with some Scots-Irish ancestry residents (2.7%), 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 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (47.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans. However, there is also a significant group of residents (10.3%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (82.3%) 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 (16.7%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.