McDowell County, WV

Designated Market Area: Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV-VA
USDA County Type (2015): Mining, Government, Low Education, Low Employment, Persistent Poverty
American Communities Project County Type (2023): Evangelical Hubs

Places in McDowell County, WV [Sort places by name]

2022 population: 17,850 ( 4,263 from 2010 , 1,268 from 2020)
Land area: 533.5 square miles
Population density: 33.5 persons per square mile

2022 Census data
White:	14,252	79.84%	27.4%
Black:	1,218	6.82%	41.9%
Indian:	63	0.35%	85.3%
Asian:	85	0.48%	466.7%
2+ races:	1,002	5.61%	333.8%
Hispanic:	1,230	6.89%	1251.6%

Total non-White:	3,598	20.16%	45.3%

2020-2022 Components	Number	Rate
Births:	366	9.6
Deaths:	873	22.8
Net Migration:	-776	-20.3
Net Immigration:	25	0.7

Change in White population:	-5,385	-24.4
Change in Non-White pop.:	1,122	5.1

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

[Display all years]

Year:

Total population:

White:

Black:

Indian:

Asian:

2+ races:

Hispanic:

Total non-White:

2010
22,113
19,637	88.80%
2,098	9.49%
34	0.15%
15	0.07%
231	1.04%
91	0.41%
2,476	11.20%

2000
27,329
23,695	86.70%
3,234	11.83%
46	0.17%
18	0.07%
194	0.71%
132	0.48%
3,634	13.30%

1990
35,233
30,363	86.18%
4,705	13.35%
18	0.05%
26	0.07%
n/a
121	0.34%
4,870	13.82%

1980
49,899
41,825	83.82%
7,281	14.59%
31	0.06%
144	0.29%
n/a
598	1.20%
8,074	16.18%

1970
50,666
41,140	81.20%
9,355	18.46%
10	0.02%
33	0.07%
n/a
102	0.20%
9,526	18.80%

Decade:

Components:

Births:

Deaths:

Net Migration:

Net Immigration:

Change in White population:

Change in Non-White pop.:

Number	Rate
2000's
2,666	9.8
3,448	12.6
-4,077	-14.9
8	0.0

-4,058	-14.8
-1,158	-4.2

Number	Rate
1990's
3,913	11.1
4,216	12.0
-5,756	-16.3
20	0.1

-6,668	-18.9
-1,236	-3.5

Number	Rate
1980's
6,690	13.4
4,766	9.6
-16,302	-32.7
n/a

-11,462	-23.0
-3,204	-6.4

Number	Rate
1970's
n/a
n/a
-6,513	-12.9
n/a

685	1.4
-1,452	-2.9

Age, Family & Household Data for McDowell County, WV

[Display all years]

Year:

Median Age:

Under 18:

Voting Age Population:

Over 65:

Households:

Persons Per HH:

Families (%HH):

Married Couples (%Fams):

Single Mothers (%Fams):

Non-Family (%HH):

2022
Number	Percent
45.3
3,885	21.8%
13,965	78.2%
4,375	24.5%

6,547
2.59

4,161	63.6%
2,507	60.2%
345	8.3%
2,386	36.4%

2010
Number	Percent
43.8
4,414	20.0%
17,699	80.0%
3,658	16.5%

9,176
2.36

6,196	67.5%
4,411	71.2%
501	8.1%
2,980	32.5%

2000
Number	Percent
39.9
6,362	23.3%
20,967	76.7%
4,397	16.1%

11,196
2.41

7,968	71.2%
5,847	73.4%
906	11.4%
3,228	28.8%

1990
Number	Percent
34.0
10,180	28.9%
25,053	71.1%
5,219	14.8%

12,835
2.73

9,757	76.0%
7,586	77.7%
895	9.2%
3,078	24.0%

1980
Number	Percent
27.3
17,328	34.7%
32,571	65.3%
5,148	10.3%

15,959
3.12

13,050	81.8%
10,730	82.2%
937	7.2%
2,909	18.2%

2022 Housing Data for McDowell County, WV

Household Income
Range	Number	%
Less than $10,000	923	14.1%
$10,000 to $14,999	990	15.1%
$15,000 to $19,999	438	6.7%
$20,000 to $24,999	572	8.7%
$25,000 to $29,999	503	7.7%
$30,000 to $34,999	398	6.1%
$35,000 to $39,999	437	6.7%
$40,000 to $44,999	181	2.8%
$45,000 to $49,999	140	2.1%
$50,000 to $59,999	437	6.7%
$60,000 to $74,999	422	6.4%
$75,000 to $99,999	520	7.9%
$100,000 to $124,999	374	5.7%
$125,000 to $149,999	126	1.9%
$150,000 to $199,999	52	0.8%
$200,000 or more	34	0.5%

Median Household Income	28,235
Per Capita Income	15,353

Cost of Living Index (100 = average)
Compared to state	112
Compared to U.S.	97

Welfare Households
	Number	%
SSI	983	15.0%
Public Assistance	303	4.6%
Public Asst. or Food Stamps	2,472	37.8%

Labor Force, Ages 25-64
	Number	%
Employed	2,950	27.1%
Unemployed	567	5.2%
In Armed Forces	0	0.0%

Total Labor Force	3,517	32.3%
Not in Labor Force	7,367	67.7%

Real Unemployment Rate		72.9%

Class of Worker
	Male	Female	% Male
Private Sector	1,039	828	55.7%
Non-Profit	86	303	22.1%
Self-Employed	45	96	31.9%

Local Government	67	136	33.0%
State Government	75	551	12.0%
Federal Government	33	50	39.8%

Total Private + Self	1,084	924	54.0%
Total Non-Profit + Govt.	261	1,040	20.1%
Total	1,345	1,964	40.6%

Pct. Govt.	27.6%

Occupation
	Number	%
Management, Business, Science, Arts	417	12.6%
Sales and Office Occupations	711	21.5%
Professional, Technical	636	19.2%
Service Occupations	753	22.8%
All others	792	23.9%

White Collar		53.3%

Industry
	Number	%
Health care and social assistance	819	24.8%
Mining, quarrying, oil/gas extraction	371	11.2%
Public administration	360	10.9%
Educational services	318	9.6%
Retail trade	275	8.3%
Other services	224	6.8%
Administrative, support, waste mgmt.	218	6.6%
Manufacturing	157	4.7%
Finance and insurance	138	4.2%
Construction	107	3.2%
Transportation and warehousing	83	2.5%
Professional, scientific, technical	62	1.9%
Arts, entertainment, recreation	52	1.6%
Accommodation and food services	46	1.4%
Real estate and rental and leasing	40	1.2%
Information	23	0.7%
Utilities	9	0.3%
Wholesale trade	7	0.2%

Hispanic Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Mexican	141	0.75%
Puerto Rican	11	0.06%
Cuban	0	0.00%
Dominican	0	0.00%

Total Central American	0	0.00%
Costa Rican	0	0.00%
Guatemalan	0	0.00%
Honduran	0	0.00%
Nicaraguan	0	0.00%
Panamanian	0	0.00%
Salvadoran	0	0.00%
Other Central American	0	0.00%

Total South American	0	0.00%
Argentinean	0	0.00%
Bolivian	0	0.00%
Chilean	0	0.00%
Colombian	0	0.00%
Ecuadorian	0	0.00%
Paraguayan	0	0.00%
Peruvian	0	0.00%
Uruguayan	0	0.00%
Venezuelan	0	0.00%
Other South American	0	0.00%

Other Hispanic	234	1.24%

Asian Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Filipino	19	0.10%

Language Spoken at Home
Language	Number	%
English	17,605	97.7%
Spanish	279	1.5%
German, other Germanic	35	0.2%
Tagalog	29	0.2%
Other Indo-European	24	0.1%
Arabic	16	0.1%
French, Haitian, Cajun	15	0.1%
Other Asian	10	0.1%

Ancestry
Country	Number	%
Irish	1,706	9.0%
English	1,492	7.9%
German	1,203	6.4%
American	998	5.3%
Italian	506	2.7%
European	330	1.7%
Dutch	258	1.4%
Scottish	203	1.1%
Polish	176	0.9%
Romanian	174	0.9%
French	165	0.9%
Hungarian	130	0.7%
Scotch-Irish	75	0.4%
British	67	0.4%
Slovak	63	0.3%

Citizenship & Nativity
	Number	%
U.S. citizen	18,702	98.9%
Not a citizen	209	1.1%

Native	18,631	98.5%
Foreign-born	280	1.5%

Educational Attainment, Population 25 Years and Older
1,114	8.1%	1,989	14.4%	7,334	53.2%	2,436	17.7%	666	4.8%	251	1.8%
Average years of education: 11.8

Population 25 Years and Older
< 9 Years	1,114	8.1%
9-12 Years	1,989	14.4%
H.S. Grad or GED	7,334	53.2%
Some College	2,436	17.7%
Bach. Degree	666	4.8%
Grad Degree	251	1.8%
Average years of education: 11.8

Labor Force Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Year	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Unemp. Rate	State Avg.
1990	8,924	7,731	1,193	13.4%	8.6%
1991	9,026	7,396	1,630	18.1%	10.6%
1992	8,827	7,422	1,405	15.9%	11.2%
1993	8,467	7,267	1,200	14.2%	10.3%
1994	8,260	7,114	1,146	13.9%	8.8%
1995	8,148	7,120	1,028	12.6%	8.0%
1996	8,039	6,997	1,042	13.0%	7.7%
1997	7,580	6,752	828	10.9%	7.0%
1998	7,454	6,574	880	11.8%	6.7%
1999	7,421	6,369	1,052	14.2%	6.5%

2000	7,010	6,275	735	10.5%	5.6%
2001	6,943	6,363	580	8.4%	5.4%
2002	7,032	6,288	744	10.6%	6.5%
2003	6,885	6,010	875	12.7%	6.6%
2004	6,479	5,793	686	10.6%	5.8%
2005	6,425	5,860	565	8.8%	5.5%
2006	6,945	6,387	558	8.0%	5.2%
2007	6,895	6,358	537	7.8%	4.8%
2008	7,143	6,687	456	6.4%	4.7%
2009	7,460	6,538	922	12.4%	8.3%

2010	6,353	5,513	840	13.2%	8.7%
2011	6,663	5,886	777	11.7%	7.8%
2012	6,589	5,819	770	11.7%	7.2%
2013	6,197	5,416	781	12.6%	6.7%
2014	5,819	5,070	749	12.9%	6.5%
2015	5,399	4,726	673	12.5%	6.6%
2016	5,102	4,481	621	12.2%	6.1%
2017	4,696	4,274	422	9.0%	5.2%
2018	4,502	4,083	419	9.3%	5.2%
2019	4,469	4,060	409	9.2%	4.9%

2020	4,478	3,914	564	12.6%	8.3%
2021	4,191	3,841	350	8.4%	5.1%
2022	4,105	3,847	258	6.3%	3.9%
2023	4,048	3,788	260	6.4%	3.9%

Housing Data
	Number	%
Housing Units	9,450
Median Value	$47,500

Occupied	6,547	69.3%
Vacant	2,903	30.7%

Owned	5,046	77.1%
Rented	1,501	22.9%
Median Rent	$601

Single-Family Units	7,058	74.7%
Detached	6,858	72.6%
Attached	200	2.1%
Buldings with 5+ Units	176	1.9%
Mobile Homes	1,894	20.0%

McDowell County, WV

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

Age, Family & Household Data for McDowell County, WV

2022 Housing Data for McDowell County, WV

2022 Income & Employment Data for McDowell County, WV

2022 Ancestry, Citizenship & Language Data for McDowell County, WV

2022 Educational Attainment Data for McDowell County, WV

Historical Labor Force Data for McDowell County, WV