Terra Alta is a very small town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 1,413 people and just one neighborhood, Terra Alta is the 135th largest community in West Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Terra Alta was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Terra Alta is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Terra Alta is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and transportation and shipping workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Terra Alta who work in food service (16.13%), sales jobs (12.32%), and office and administrative support (10.47%).
Also of interest is that Terra Alta has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
The citizens of Terra Alta have a very low rate of college education: just 6.86% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, compared to a national average of 21.84% for all cities.
The per capita income in Terra Alta in 2022 was $21,201, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $84,804 for a family of four. However, Terra Alta contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Terra Alta also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 33.08% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Terra Alta is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Terra Alta home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Terra Alta residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Terra Alta include German, Irish, English, Scottish, and Scandinavian.
The most common language spoken in Terra Alta is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 6.6% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 98.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The neighborhood has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (64.4%) than found in 97.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.
Significantly, 6.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Terra Alta are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 89.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 64.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 97.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 36.7% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 20.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (20.0%), and 16.3% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 100.0% of households. Some people also speak Italian (6.3%).
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 Terra Alta, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (28.3%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.8%), and residents who report Scottish roots (3.0%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (2.4%), along with some English ancestry residents (2.0%), 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 under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (49.7% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (71.6%) 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 (18.1%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.