Data Sources & Methodology

This overview dashboard brings together data from several public sources and puts it into one consistent county-level format so places across West Virginia can be compared more clearly. For the overview, we generally use the most recent available value for each metric, clean and match the data by county, and convert some measures into percentages, per-capita values, per-1,000 rates, shares of state totals, or growth measures when that makes comparisons more meaningful. When the dashboard shows regional values, those are usually rolled up from the underlying county data rather than averaged county-by-county; for a few measures, like median age, household income, median rent, and commute time, we use weighted summaries when an exact regional figure is not available from published county data. Most overview indicators use 2024 data, while IRS migration measures use 2021-2022 data. This overview is meant to provide a shared baseline and a simple way to compare places at a glance. The deeper dashboard pages may use additional sources, longer time spans, and methods that are more specific to their own analysis, including sources such as KFF poverty data and trend analysis covering years like 2009 through 2024 where appropriate.

Overview Dashboard Data Dictionary

Metric	Definition
Age 18 to 24 [2024 ACS]	Share of residents ages 18 to 24 and a quick read on young-adult transitions.
Age 65+ [2024 ACS]	Share of residents age 65 or older and a quick read on aging-related needs.
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher [2024 ACS]	Share of adults age 25+ with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Broadband Subscription [2024 ACS]	Share of households with a broadband internet subscription at home.
Business Registration Growth (2009-2024) [2024 WVSOS]	How much new business filings grew or shrank since 2009.
Disability Rate [2024 ACS]	Share of residents living with a disability.
Fixed Cellular Internet Only [2024 ACS]	Share of households using cellular service as their only internet connection.
GDP Growth (2009-2024) [2024 BEA]	How much local GDP grew or shrank since 2009.
GDP per Capita [2024 BEA]	Local GDP divided by population as a rough per-person output measure.
Households With a Computer [2024 ACS]	Share of households with at least one computing device.
Households Without a Device [2024 ACS]	Share of households with no computer smartphone tablet or similar device.
Inflow Exemptions [2021-22 IRS]	Estimated number of people tied to IRS tax returns moving into the area from elsewhere in the U.S.
Inflow Exemptions per 1,000 [2021-22 IRS]	IRS in-migration scaled per thousand residents so different-sized places compare more fairly.
Labor Force Participation Rate [2024 ACS]	Share of people age 16+ who are working or looking for work.
Mean Travel Time to Work [2024 ACS]	Average one-way commute time in minutes.
Median Gross Rent [2024 ACS]	Middle monthly rent cost so half of renters pay more and half pay less.
Median Household Income [2024 ACS]	Middle household income level with half of households above it and half below it.
Moved From Different State Last Year [2024 ACS]	Share of residents who lived in a different state one year earlier.
New Business Registrations [2024 WVSOS]	Number of new business filings recorded in 2024.
New Business Registrations per 1,000 Residents [2024 WVSOS]	New business filings per thousand residents.
No Vehicle Available [2024 ACS]	Share of occupied households with no vehicle available.
Outflow Exemptions [2021-22 IRS]	Estimated number of people tied to IRS tax returns moving out of the area to elsewhere in the U.S.
Outflow Exemptions per 1,000 [2021-22 IRS]	IRS out-migration scaled per thousand residents so different-sized places compare more fairly.
Overall Population Growth (2009-2024) [2024 Population Estimates]	Percent change in total population from 2009 to 2024.
Owner Cost Burden 35%+ [2024 ACS]	Share of homeowners with a mortgage spending at least 35% of income on housing.
Poverty Rate [2024 ACS]	Share of residents living below the poverty line.
Share of State GDP [2024 BEA]	How much of West Virginia’s total GDP comes from this area.
Smartphone-Only Households [2024 ACS]	Share of households with a smartphone but no other computing device.
Total Population [2024 ACS]	Total number of residents.
Unemployment Rate [2024 ACS]	Share of the labor force that is not working but is actively looking for a job.
Uninsured [2024 ACS]	Share of residents without health insurance coverage.
Worked From Home [2024 ACS]	Share of workers who worked from home.

West Virginia Economic Insights Project

Presented by the H1 2026 NewForce Insights Team

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