About Bethany

Bethany is a very small town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 1,013 people and just one neighborhood, Bethany is the 165th largest community in West Virginia.

Bethany is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 87.87% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Bethany is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bethany who work in teaching (25.74%), office and administrative support jobs (17.87%), and food service (9.79%).

Of important note, Bethany is also a town of artists. Bethany has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Bethany's character.

Bethany is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Bethany to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Bethany spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 14.20 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.

Despite being a small town, Bethany has a lot of people using taxis to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on taxis are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.

Bethany Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Bethany is a pretty powerful place. 64.91% of the adults in Bethany have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 14.96% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Bethany in 2000 was $10,769, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $43,076 for a family of four.

The people who call Bethany home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Bethany is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Bethany include German, Italian, Irish, Polish, English, Scotch-Irish, Slovak, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Bethany is English. Some people also speak Spanish.