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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 October 21, 2009

Data Download
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Questions & Answers
Excel file WV-fact-sheet.xls

Population, Income, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
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
    2008 (latest estimates) 807,441 1,007,027 1,814,468

More information on West Virginia population
County-level Population Data
Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room
• Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

Income
  Rural * Urban * Total
Per-capita income (2007 dollars)
    2006 26,064 30,885 28,731
    2007 26,593 31,630 29,385
    Percent change 4.1 4.8 4.6
 
Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
    2006 35,549 41,245 38,947
    2007 36,026 41,584 39,351
    Percent change 2.7 1.6 2.1
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 17.0 13.1 15.0
    1989 23.0 16.7 19.7
    1999 20.4 15.8 17.9
    2007 (latest model-based estimates) 19.8 15.0 17.1

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 Tracey Farrigan, 202-694-5489

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
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

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2006 370,124 547,046 917,170
    2007 370,395 551,503 921,898
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2007 4.8 4.0 4.3
    2008 4.6 4.0 4.3

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
    2005-2006 2.2 1.7 1.9
    2006-2007 0.2 1.0 0.6
    2007-2008 -1.0 -0.7 -0.8
 

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) definitions 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

1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture
 
  1997 2002 2007
Approximate total land area (acres) 15,415,401 15,409,745 15,383,174
    Total farmland (acres) 3,698,204 3,584,668 3,697,606
        Percent of total land area 24.0 23.3 24.0
 
        Cropland (acres) 1,420,517 1,173,032 942,132
            Percent of total farmland 38.4 32.7 25.5
            Percent in pasture 48.8 40.3 20.3
            Percent irrigated 0.2 0.0  
 
            Harvested Cropland (acres) 661,882 648,635 692,003
 
        Woodland (acres) 1,530,529 1,482,067 1,461,714
            Percent of total farmland 41.4 41.3 39.5
            Percent in pasture 33.3 33.3 31.1
 
        Pastureland (acres) 561,118 754,045 1,105,292
            Percent of total farmland 15.2 21.0 29.9
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)
186,040 175,524 188,468
            Percent of total farmland 5.0 4.9 5.1
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (acres)
8,615 12,658 4,667
 
Average farm size (acres) 172 172 157
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 48.3 49.7 53.2
            100 to 499 acres 45.7 44.0 41.5
            500 to 999 acres 4.5 4.6 3.8
            1000 to 1,999 acres 1.2 1.3 1.1
            2,000 or more acres 0.3 0.4 0.3
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 82.5 82.5 79.9
            $10,000 to $49,999 12.5 12.3 15.1
            $50,000 to $99,999 2.0 1.8 1.8
            $100,000 to $499,999 2.1 2.3 2.1
            More than $500,000 0.9 1.1 1.1
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 15,952 15,534 17,694
            Percent of total 74.1 74.6 74.9
 
        Part owner (farms) 4,714 4,637 5,259
            Percent of total 21.9 22.3 22.3
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 865 641 665
            Percent of total 4.0 3.1 2.8
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)
20,068 19,862 22,488
            Percent of total 93.2 95.4 95.2
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)
275 199 182
            Percent of total 1.3 1.0 0.8
 
        Partnerships (farms) 1,037 639 856
            Percent of total 4.8 3.1 3.6
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 42 21 27
            Percent of total 0.2 0.1 0.1
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)
109 91 65
            Percent of total 0.5 0.4 0.3
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 56.2 56.3 58.1
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation
37.7 50.5 41.5
        Men 19,436 18,490 20,399
        Women 2,095 2,322 3,219
 

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


Farm Financial Indicators

Farm income and value added data
  2007 2008
 
Number of farms 23,400 23,200
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 77,397 108,367
+     Final animal output 431,476 421,091
+     Services and forestry 199,249 213,986
=   Final agricultural sector output 708,121 743,444
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 458,997 492,901
+     Net government transactions -14,506 -16,635
=   Gross value added 234,619 233,908
 
-      Capital consumption 152,540 160,882
 
=   Net value added 82,079 73,026
 
-    Factor payments 65,274 60,304
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 34,954 33,469
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords -4,190 -6,357
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 34,510 33,192
 
=   Net farm income 16,805 12,722
 

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

Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2008
  Value of receipts
thousand $
Percent of state total
farm receipts
Percent of US value
1. Broilers 165,158 31.5 0.7
2. Cattle and calves 113,545 21.6 0.2
3. Turkeys 57,243 10.9 1.3
4. Dairy products 33,652 6.4 0.1
5. Hay 31,051 5.9 0.4
 
All commodities 525,042   0.2
 

More information on West Virginia's top agriculture commodities
Leading commodities for cash receipts in a text file
• Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2008
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Poultry and products 24 32.9
2. Feeds and fodders 38 9.9
3. Soybeans and products 31 4.8
4. Fruits and preparations 23 4.7
5. Feed grains and products 41 4.5
 
Overall rank 45 66.5
 

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

Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2007
  Percent of state total receipts Thousands $
1. Hardy County 25.0 148,029
2. Pendleton County 15.5 91,788
3. Greenbrier County 7.3 42,976
4. Grant County 7.1 42,123
5. Hampshire County 5.5 32,549
 
State total   591,665
 

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


Data Sources

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

For more information, contact: Tim Parker
Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
Updated date: October 21, 2009