Thomas is a tiny city located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 593 people and just one neighborhood, Thomas is the 184th largest community in West Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Thomas was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Thomas is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Thomas is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Thomas who work in office and administrative support (25.76%), food service (7.58%), and teaching (6.57%).
And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Thomas has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 14.51% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
It is a fairly quiet city 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!) Thomas 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. Thomas has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Thomas than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Thomas may be for you.
As is often the case in a small city, Thomas doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The education level of Thomas citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 20.08% of adults 25 and older in Thomas have a college degree.
The per capita income in Thomas in 2022 was $29,046, 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 $116,184 for a family of four. However, Thomas contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Thomas home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Thomas residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Thomas include German, English, Italian, Irish, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Thomas is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
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.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 14.6% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 12 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 96.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 30.5%, which is higher than 95.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
If you're nearing retirement age, or in retirement, the is an excellent choice for you to consider for top-quality retirement living. This neighborhood is rated by NeighborhoodScout as among the top 6.6% of retiree-friendly neighborhoods in West Virginia, combining peace and quiet, safety from crime, and offering diverse housing options from which retirees can choose. Maybe it's because of these amenities that a large proportion of the residents here are college educated seniors, mixed with other age groups. For these and other reasons, NeighborhoodScout identifies this neighborhood as a top-notch place to consider if you are thinking of or planning to retire in West Virginia.
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 Thomas are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 80.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 21.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 72.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 39.1% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 24.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (21.3%), and 14.6% 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 97.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian, Polish and Spanish.
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 Thomas, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (25.2%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (13.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.6%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (5.0%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (2.1%), 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 (34.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (70.7%) 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 (14.3%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.