This week, before emancipation, Appalachia provided pathways to freedom for enslaved people trying to escape bondage. A new project identifies more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites. Also, the Fly Around Music & Arts Festival in North Carolina was inspired by the hard work that followed Hurricane Helene. And, a ballad about floods recorded a generation ago still provides solace for people today.
The Italian Heritage Festival in Monongalia County is an example of one of the reasons that county is growing, while much of the southern portion of the state is losing population. West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival
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The U.S. Census Bureau recently released adjusted data on the population from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. West Virginia didn’t fare well overall.
The Population Estimates Program uses current data on births, deaths and migration to calculate population change since the 2020 Census and produce annual estimates.
The only counties and metro areas in West Virginia to gain population in that period were from Monongalia County to the Eastern Panhandle. The Hagerstown metro area gained more than 4,000 residents, and the Winchester, Virginia metro area gained more than 2,000.
By contrast, central West Virginia from Beckley to Charleston and Huntington to Parkersburg lost more than 3,500 residents.
The census bureau places the state population today at between 1.76 to 1.77 million. The 2020 census had the state’s population at almost 1.8 million people.
Using the more optimistic number, the state’s population has declined by more than 24,000 people in five years. The U.S. population grew by roughly 10 million residents in that same period.
Nationwide, population growth continued to slow as net international migration slowed or reversed in the second half of 2025. Major metropolitan areas and border states have seen the greatest decline.
The total U.S. population is at 342,400,000. That is roughly 10 million residents higher than the 2020 census.
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On this West Virginia Week, the board of education is in charge of rulemaking for schools according to a ruling from the Court of Appeals of West Virginia, Sen. Jim Justice is admonished and a rule to weaken silica limits in mines is proposed.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruled Friday that rulemaking by the State Board of Education is within the meaning of 'general supervision' of state schools pursuant to the West Virginia Constitution and that a 2025 law interfering with that rulemaking is unconstitutional.
