Population Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Only 8 Counties See Growth In State, Most In Eastern Panhandle

Only eight of West Virginia’s 55 counties grew in population from 2022 to 2023. Most of these were clustered in the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.

From July 2022 to July 2023, the vast majority of West Virginia counties experienced population decline.

Forty-seven of the state’s 55 counties decreased in population in the one-year span, according to data released by the United States Census Bureau last week.

But among the eight counties that saw growth, five are located in the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands region.

Berkeley County grew at a rate of 2.37 percent. Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, and Hardy counties also saw growth, clustering the greatest population increase in the easternmost region of the state.

In north central West Virginia, Monongalia and Marion counties also saw slight growth, with rates of 0.69 percent and 0.04 percent respectively.

The sole representative of southern West Virginia, Monroe County, grew its population by 0.5 percent in the one-year span.

Despite some regional growth, population decline across most counties echoes a years-long trend of population loss in West Virginia.

To view the full list of county-level population trends in West Virginia from 2022 to 2023, visit the Census Bureau website.

Deaths Outnumbered Births In State In 2023, Offsetting New Residents

More than 8,600 people died than were born, leaving the state with a net loss of almost 4,000.

According to U.S. Census data released this week, West Virginia has narrowed its population loss of recent years and actually gained residents.

The state added about 4,700 residents in the year that ended July 1, 2023. But that was offset by the number of people who died in those 12 months.

More than 8,600 more people died than were born, leaving the state with a net loss of almost 4,000.

That’s not good, says Brad Humphreys, an economics professor at West Virginia University.

“There are a ton of economic implications for that,” he said. “We’ve got a very unhealthy, aging population in the state. Those people place a lot more economic pressure on publicly provided services than young healthy people.”

While it is true that the most out-migration took place in higher-tax states such as California and New York, Humphreys says other factors drive people to move, including weather and housing affordability.

“I don’t think there’s much evidence supporting the idea that state taxes drive migration decisions,” he said. “The general trends in the United States over the last many decades, probably since the ’80s, is that people want to move to states where the weather is good.”

When you subtract the in-migration, West Virginia had the worst natural change in its population – births minus deaths – than any state but Pennsylvania. Florida, with its elderly population, is just behind West Virginia.

The census also shows that West Virginia has lost a total of 23,642 people since 2020, almost the population of Wheeling.

“You can’t outlaw death, right?” Humphreys said. “That’s not easily addressable by any sort of policy.”

Humphreys says county level data that will be available in the spring should show where in the state the population loss and growth is occurring.

It would also be helpful, he says, to know the age of the people who are moving here, and the age of the people who are dying.

Ascend Remote Worker Program Adds New River Gorge Location

With the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State.

With the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State. By offering incentives of cash and free outdoor adventures, the program hopes to offset the state’s population decline.

Ascend West Virginia began with a $25 million gift to West Virginia University’s (WVU) Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative. Teaming up with the state Department of Tourism, Ascend selects applicants (more than 20,000 since its launch), who are willing to move to the state. The people selected get $12,000 in cash and another $8,000 in outdoor activity vouchers.

Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby called Ascend a progressive success.

“We have nearly 300 new West Virginia residents that have come over the last two years,” Ruby said. “They are spread across the state in various host communities. And the retention rate is at about 98 percent, so things are going well.”

Ruby said adding the New River Gorge region to the Ascend community roster offers options.

“They can live anywhere in the New River Gorge region.” she said. “It’s not just Fayetteville, it’s not just Oak Hill. They can basically live anywhere in the area from Summersville down to Beckley and all around. We’re looking for them to put down roots in those communities.”

Ascend executive team member Danny Twilley, a WVU assistant vice president of Economic Community and Asset Development, said the other four Ascend community regions continue to take applicants.

“So if you want a college town, you’ve got Morgantown,” Twilley said. “If you want the kind of access to the major metropolitan area in D.C. and in the growth of the Eastern Panhandle, you’ve got that area. If you want that cool art and food culture with some really unique outdoor assets, you’ve got Greenbrier Valley and Lewisburg. And then Elkins is a western gateway to the Monongahela National Forest.”

“Ascenders,” as they are called, hail from 34 states and two countries. Ruby said they are a diverse lot.

”We’ve got some that are singles, we’ve got some couples, we’ve got some families,” Ruby said. “I think we even have a couple of new babies that have been born into Ascend families since they’ve moved here.”

Ruby said the Ascend remote workers come from a variety of businesses and industries, highlighted by health care, advertising and educational services.

“Just skimming the list, you know, we’ve got folks from Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, Ocean Spray, UnitedHealthcare, Vivid Seats, Walgreens,” she said. “They really are a very broad spectrum. They come from nearly every industry.”

Twilley said a majority of Ascenders have advanced education.

“Whether it’s a four year degree, a master’s or beyond, 25 percent of them have a very direct connection to the state and 75 percent don’t have a family member or have lived here before,” Twilley said. “It’s a relatively broad swath. We’ve had applications from over 80 different countries and all 50 states.”

The goal is to have 1,000 Ascend families come to West Virginia in the next six years. Twilley said one new group target will be military veterans.

“West Virginia produces more military veterans per capita than any other state in the country and we have the least amount to return home, right?” Twilley said. “They learn tremendous skills, they have lived a life of service, they have built a sense of community and what it means to be a military veteran. We had the highest population in 1950. Over the next 71 years, we lost over 200,000 people – about 12 percent. I think we can replenish it back to that era of a population. That’s really a long-term goal that we’re focused on.”

Ruby said what Ascend is selling is the kind of outdoor lifestyle a remote worker can have in West Virginia.

“I firmly believe it is the nation’s premier remote worker program,” she said. “I’m really excited about the results that we’ve seen over the first two years and am really excited about the future.”

Library Benefits And Remote Working Opportunities To Offset Population Decline, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, summer is the perfect time for students of all ages to relax, but it’s also a time when learning loss can occur. One of the best resources to avoid the so-called “summer slide” is the library. Chris Schulz has the story.

On this West Virginia Morning, summer is the perfect time for students of all ages to relax, but it’s also a time when learning loss can occur. One of the best resources to avoid the so-called “summer slide” is the library. Chris Schulz has the story.

Also, in this show, with the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State. With the incentives of cash and free outdoor adventures, the program hopes to help offset the state’s population decline. Randy Yohe reports.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Q&A: Berkeley County Development Authority Outlines Challenges & Statewide Impact

Berkeley County is one of the fastest growing counties in West Virginia. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 2013 and 2016, the population grew by 4,300 people. It’s also the second most-populated county in the state.

With big businesses like Procter and Gamble moving in, it seems like the population will only continue to grow, so how does the county handle that?

West Virginia Public Broadcasting spoke with Sandy Hamilton, Executive Director of the Berkeley County Development Authority to talk about challenges in the growing region and her thoughts on the county’s overall impact on the state.

Biggest Challenges:

Building a dependable workforce
Keeping up with infrastructure needs

Impact:

Hamilton says she hopes Berkeley County’s growth “provides hope” for the rest of the state and for each area of West Virginia to focus and emphasize its strengths.

‘I Just Felt in Complete Turmoil’ – Colt Brogan’s Struggle to Stay, Part Four

“If you want to stay in West Virginia, then I believe you’re doing something right,” Colt Brogan told West Virginia Public Broadcasting for The Struggle to Stay series. “I mean, cause it’s hard to want to stay here in my opinion. Cause it is so rough.”

Colt is determined to make a home for himself, and maybe eventually have a family farm where teenagers are welcome to work and stay. But for now, that’s a far-off dream. For the past year and half he’s been working for a farmer training program called Refresh Appalachia. In addition to working in a small greenhouse, he also gets paid for the time he spends going to college.

But the program is demanding, and he doesn’t have a lot of time off. Since we last heard from Colt, things haven’t been easy.

August 2016, things suddenly spun out of control.

“My cousin called me, and I answered the phone. It’s like 7 in the morning, and she told me that my mom’s house burned down. She’s like, ‘it’s gone, it burned down, it’s gone.’ Didn’t really say much else.”

Colt’s mom, Maria Marotto, had a house fire August 2016.

This was the house along the Coal River where Colt spent a lot of his childhood.

This was the house along the Coal River where Colt spent a lot of his childhood. Colt’s mom escaped with no serious injuries, which was surprising because the blaze started right by her bed while she was asleep- from a candle she’d left burning. She did have a big burn mark on her forehead.

The fire department took a while to respond to the 9-1-1 call because Colt’s mom lives in Alum Creek, right on the county line. So the dispatchers couldn’t agree on which county was responsible for her home. This is the call between emergency dispatchers at Kanawha County and Lincoln County 911.

One of the only things that made it out of the fire was a ceramic box Colt had given his mom years ago, when he was about four years old.

“It was like a jewelry box. It was shaped like a heart. It said ‘Mom’ on top. I thought that was kind of amazing.”

We’ll hear the conclusion to Colt’s Struggle to Stay story next week. But the Struggle to Stay series continues. Over the next few months we’ll meet five young people as they struggle with the decision, do I stay or do I go?

We want to hear from you. Did you struggle to stay? What do you love about living in Appalachia? What do you wish could be better? You can send us a tweet to @InAppalachia or send us an email to Feedback@wvpublic.org.