Chapter V: West Virginia’s Counties

While statewide figures reflecting West Virginia’s economy are important, it is important to recognize that they mask significant economic and demographic variations across the state’s regions and counties. As such, in this chapter we illustrate several key economic statistics performed during the past decade across each of the state’s 55 counties and how these measures are expected to perform from a geographic perspective over the next five years.

Substantial amounts of federal government relief were provided during the first half of 2020 to offset income losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, county-by-county comparisons for real personal growth in figures 5.6 and 5.7 will cover the 2021 to 2025 time period to avoid the potential for misleading interpretations of a given county’s expected path of income gains during the outlook period.

[Figure 5.1]

[Figure 5.2]

[Figure 5.3]

[Figure 5.4]

[Figure 5.5]

[Figure 5.6]

[Figure 5.7]