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State Fact Sheets: West Virginia

Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment
Federal Funds
Organic Agriculture
Farm Characteristics
Farm Financial Indicators
Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated January 17, 2012

Data Download
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Excel file WV-Fact-Sheet.xls
PDF file WV-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Population, Income, Food Insecurity, 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
    2010 820,244 1,032,750 1,852,994

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 (2009 dollars)
    2008 28,861 33,422 31,396
    2009 29,695 33,977 32,080
    Percent change 2.9 1.7 2.2
 
Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
    2008 38,079 43,486 41,319
    2009 38,670 44,579 42,209
    Percent change 1.6 2.5 2.2
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 17.0 13.1 15.0
    1989 23.0 16.7 19.7
    1999 20.4 15.8 17.9
    2010 (latest model-based estimates) 20.2 16.6 18.2

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

Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
  2002-04 Avg. 2005-07 Avg. 2008-10 Avg.
Percent of households
    Food insecure 8.8 10.7 14.1
    Very low food security 2.9 4.0 5.3

More information on Food Insecurity
Food Security in the United States Briefing Room
Definitions of Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
• Comparisons of prevalence rates of food insecurity between States must take account of the margins of error, which are sizeable for many States. Margins of error are published along with State prevalence rates in each year’s Household Food Security in the United States report.
• Contact Alisha Coleman-Jensen, 202-694-5456.

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
Percent not completing high school
    1980 (Census) 48.9 39.5 44.0
    1990 (Census) 38.7 29.9 34.0
    2000 (Census) 28.9 21.3 24.8
    2006-2010 (ACS) 21.5 15.3 18.1
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 (Census) 34.0 37.1 35.6
    1990 (Census) 36.6 36.6 36.6
    2000 (Census) 40.3 38.7 39.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 43.5 39.5 41.3
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 (Census) 8.7 11.1 10.0
    1990 (Census) 15.1 18.7 17.0
    2000 (Census) 19.1 22.5 21.0
    2006-2010 (ACS) 21.5 24.9 23.4
 
Percent completing college
    1980 (Census) 8.4 12.3 10.4
    1990 (Census) 9.5 14.8 12.3
    2000 (Census) 11.6 17.6 14.8
    2006-2010 (ACS) 13.5 20.4 17.3

More information on West Virginia education
County-level Education Data
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Alexander Marré, 202-694-5338

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2008 370,588 554,003 924,591
    2009 365,175 545,241 910,416
 
Percent employment change
    2007-2008 -1.6 -1.0 -1.3
    2008-2009 -4.8 -4.5 -4.6
    2009-2010 -3.0 -3.5 -3.3
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2009 8.3 7.3 7.7
    2010 9.7 8.7 9.1

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

Federal Funds, FY 2010
  Rural * Urban * Total
Federal funding, dollars per person
   All Federal funds 11,420 11,134 11,260
 
Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
      Agriculture and natural resources 40 31 35
      Community resources 546 942 767
      Defense and space 418 559 497
      Human resources 256 167 207
      Income security 8,593 6,834 7,612
      National functions 1,566 2,601 2,143
 
Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
      Grants 2,120 1,414 1,726
      Direct loans 224 610 439
      Guaranteed/insured loans 356 814 612
      Retirement/disability payments 4,491 3,917 4,171
      Other direct payments to
      individuals
2,512 2,073 2,268
      Direct payments, not to
      individuals
35 42 39
      Procurement contracts 772 1,112 961
      Salaries and wages 910 1,151 1,044

Total does not include Statewide funds undistributed at the county level.

More information on Federal Funds
Program Function and Object Code Definitions
Federal Funds and Development Policy Briefing Room
Federal Funds Data
• Contact Richard Reeder, 202-694-5360


* The terms “rural” and “urban” here refer to data for nonmetro and metro areas, a county-level classification defined by the Office of Management and Budget. We use the June 2003 version of nonmetro and metro areas because it reflects conditions at the beginning of the decade. See Measuring Rurality: What is Rural? for a discussion of differences between metro-nonmetro categories and the Census Bureau’s rural-urban classification.
 
More information on socioeconomic conditions
Rural Emphasis Page
• Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.


Organic Agriculture

  2006 2007 2008
Number of certified operations 8 7 6
Crops (acres) 1,342 259 259
Pasture & rangeland (acres) 319 25 25
Total acres 1,661 284 284

More information on organic agriculture
Organic Production Data
Organic Agriculture Briefing Room
• Contact Catherine Greene, 202-694-5541.


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
  2009 2010
 
Number of farms 23,200 23,000
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 96,956 76,741
+     Final animal output 381,408 433,360
+     Services and forestry 188,868 200,032
=   Final agricultural sector output 667,232 710,133
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 450,881 470,116
+     Net government transactions -8,750 -10,066
=   Gross value added 207,602 229,951
 
-      Capital consumption 170,271 173,748
 
=   Net value added 37,331 56,203
 
-    Factor payments 64,414 63,564
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 32,562 31,409
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords -3,359 -1,578
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 35,211 33,733
 
=   Net farm income -27,083 -7,360
 

More information on farm income
Farm Income Data
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room
• Contact Timothy Park, 202-694-5446.

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, 2010
  Value of receipts
thousand $
Percent of state total
farm receipts
Percent of US value
1. Broilers 166,772 32.1 0.7
2. Cattle and calves 115,232 22.2 0.2
3. Turkeys 53,940 10.4 1.2
4. Chicken eggs 38,911 7.5 0.6
5. Greenhouse/nursery 26,594 5.1 0.2
 
All commodities 520,077   0.2
 

More information on West Virginia's top agriculture commodities
Leading commodities by cash receipts in Excel.
Other cash receipts data.
• Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2010
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Poultry and products 24 30.6
2. Feeds and fodders 40 11.9
3. Fruits and preparations 21 9.8
4. Other 44 6.0
5. Soybeans and products 31 3.8
 
Total export value 45 68.7
 

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: January 17, 2012