Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: West Virginia

• Population, Income, Education, and Employment
• Farm Characteristics
• Farm Financial Indicators
• Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
• About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated March 21, 2008

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	945,023	1,005,163	1,950,186
1990	842,172	951,305	1,793,477
2000	825,070	983,274	1,808,344
2007 (latest estimates)	807,957	1,004,078	1,812,035
More information on West Virginia population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2005 dollars)
2004	23,673	28,198	26,159
2005	23,999	28,392	26,419
Percent change	1.4	0.7	1.0

Earnings per job (2005 dollars)
2004	33,030	38,984	36,586
2005	33,111	38,935	36,583
Percent change	0.2	-0.1	-0.0

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	17.0	13.1	15.0
1989	23.0	16.7	19.7
1999	20.4	15.8	17.9
2005 (latest model-based estimates)	20.5	16.0	18.0
More information on West Virginia poverty rates • County-level Poverty Data • Rural Income, Poverty, and Welfare Briefing Room • See important notes about decennial and model-based intercensal poverty estimates • Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980	48.9	39.5	44.0
1990	38.7	29.9	34.0
2000	28.9	21.3	24.8

Percent completing high school only
1980	34.0	37.1	35.6
1990	36.6	36.6	36.6
2000	40.3	38.7	39.4

Percent completing some college
1980	8.7	11.1	10.0
1990	15.1	18.7	17.0
2000	19.1	22.5	21.0

Percent completing college
1980	8.4	12.3	10.4
1990	9.5	14.8	12.3
2000	11.6	17.6	14.8
More information on West Virginia education • County-level Education Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Employment
Total number of jobs
2004	360,631	534,613	895,244
2005	367,407	542,421	909,828

Unemployment rate (percent)
2005	5.4	4.7	5.0
2006	5.4	4.6	4.9
More information on West Virginia unemployment rates • County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429

Percent employment change
2003-2004	-0.7	0.0	-0.3
2004-2005	1.4	1.3	1.3
2005-2006	2.1	1.4	1.7

Percent of 2002 employment in farm and farm-related jobs
Total	16.0	13.4	14.5
Production	4.0	1.5	2.5
Farm inputs	0.1	0.1	0.1
Processing & marketing	1.3	0.7	0.9
Wholesale & retail trade	10.4	10.7	10.6
More information on farm employment • Farm and Farm-Related Employment data • Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) defintions are based on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) June 2003 classification. See Measuring Rurality: New Definitions in 2003 for more information.

More information on socioeconomic conditions • Rural Emphasis Page • Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.

Farm Characteristics

	1992	1997	2002
1992, 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture

Total land area (million acres)	15.42	15.42	15.41
Total farmland (million acres)	3.27	3.70	3.58
Percent of total land area	21.2	24.0	23.3

Cropland (million acres)	1.29	1.42	1.17
Percent of total farmland	39.6	38.4	32.7
Percent in pasture	51.1	48.8	40.3
Percent irrigated	0.2	0.2	0.0

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	0.56	0.66	0.65

Woodland (million acres)	1.32	1.53	1.48
Percent of total farmland	40.5	41.4	41.3
Percent in pasture	36.3	33.3	33.3

Pastureland (million acres)	0.52	0.56	0.75
Percent of total farmland	15.8	15.2	21.0

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.13	0.19	0.18
Percent of total farmland	4.0	5.0	4.9

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.00	0.01	0.01
Percent of total farmland	0.1	0.2	0.4

Average farm size (acres)	192	172	172

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	43.2	48.3	49.7
100 to 499 acres	49.4	45.7	44.0
500 to 999 acres	5.6	4.5	4.6
1000 to 1,999 acres	1.4	1.2	1.3
2,000 or more acres	0.4	0.3	0.4

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	78.0	82.5	82.5
$10,000 to $49,999	16.0	13.0	12.3
$50,000 to $99,999	2.5	2.0	1.8
$100,000 to $499,999	3.0	2.1	2.3
More than $500,000	0.7	0.9	1.1

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	12,428	15,952	15,534
Percent of total	73.0	74.1	74.6

Part owner (farms)	3,866	4,714	4,637
Percent of total	22.7	21.9	22.3

Tenant owner (farms)	726	865	641
Percent of total	4.3	4.0	3.1

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	15,737	20,068	19,862
Percent of total	92.5	93.2	95.4

Family-held corporations (farms)	191	275	199
Percent of total	1.1	1.3	1.0

Partnerships (farms)	977	1,037	639
Percent of total	5.7	4.8	3.1

Non-family corporations (farms)	35	42	21
Percent of total	0.2	0.2	0.1

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	80	109	91
Percent of total	0.5	0.5	0.4

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	56.4	56.2	56.3
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	42.1	37.7	50.5
Men (persons)	15,541	19,436	18,490
Women (persons)	1,479	2,095	2,322

More information on farm characteristics • Census of Agriculture • Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540. Data from the 1992 Census of Agriculture is not adjusted for coverage. See Coverage Adjustment from NASS.

Farm Financial Indicators

	2005	2006
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	20,800	21,200

	Thousands $
Final crop output	74,118	81,944
+ Final animal output	384,639	383,322
+ Services and forestry	174,866	183,119
= Final agricultural sector output	633,623	648,384

- Intermediate consumption outlays	357,778	390,248
+ Net government transactions	-4,366	-6,117
= Gross value added	271,479	252,019

- Capital consumption	131,055	138,753

= Net value added	140,424	113,266

- Factor payments	59,274	63,562
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	30,459	31,323
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-1,157	-1,800
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	29,972	34,039

= Net farm income	81,150	49,704

More information on farm income • Farm Income Data • Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room • Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

Farm balance sheet

• Estimation of State-level Balance Sheets has been suspended. See the Farm Balance Sheet data page for more information.

Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties

	Value of receipts thousand $	Percent of state total farm receipts	Percent of US value
Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2006
1. Broilers	143,520	31.9	0.8
2. Cattle and calves	113,325	25.2	0.2
3. Turkeys	43,654	9.7	1.3
4. Chicken eggs	32,210	7.2	0.7
5. Dairy products	26,398	5.9	0.1

All commodities	449,551		0.2

More information on West Virginia's top agriculture commodities • Leading commodities for cash receipts in Excel • Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2006
1. Poultry and products	24	21.2
2. Feeds and fodders	37	7.3
3. Fruits and preparations	25	3.9
4. Feed grains and products	40	2.3
5. Live animals and meat	40	2.3

Overall rank	47	41.9

More information on agricultural exports • State Export Data • Agricultural Trade Briefing Room • Contact Nora Brooks, 202-694-5211.

	Percent of state total receipts	Million $
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2002
1. Hardy County	25.6	123.6
2. Pendleton County	15.3	74.0
3. Grant County	8.1	39.3
4. Greenbrier County	7.2	35.0
5. Hampshire County	4.1	19.6

State total		482.8

More information on agricultural sales • Census of Agriculture • Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540.

Data Sources

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, county data, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Regional Economic Information System, June 2005, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
1980, 1990, and 2000 Census of Population, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States (FATUS), Economic Research Service, USDA.
Census of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

Prepared by Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC.

For more information, contact: Tim Parker

Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov

Updated date: March 21, 2008