Wise County, VA
Demographic and economic profile of Wise County, VA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
Wise County is a coal-country economy in Southwest Virginia with a population of 35,727 that has contracted 8.5% over five years, reflecting long-term extraction-industry decline. The labor force participation rate of 46.4% and unemployment rate of 8.4% indicate a constrained workforce, and only 15.6% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, though median worker earnings of $33,117 come against a low cost base—median home values of $116,500 and median gross rent of $770 per month. Median household income stands at $52,943 alongside a 17.7% poverty rate, pointing to significant income disparity within the county.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-8.5% since 2018
Wise County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- White Alone31,982 (90.2%)
- Black or African American Alone1,724 (4.9%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races780 (2.2%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race389 (1.1%)
- Some Other Race Alone359 (1.0%)
- Asian Alone112 (0.3%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish370
- 2.Other Indo-European66
- 3.German or other West Germanic63
- 4.Arabic39
- 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)21
Economy
GDP per Capita
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Not yet cached
Cost of Living Index
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Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,383
- 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,792
- 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,251
- 4.Public Administration (Group)1,004
- 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services875
Top Occupations
- 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,358
- 2.Sales & Office Occupations2,672
- 3.Service Occupations2,518
- 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,739
- 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,304
Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)
- 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.21×)850
- 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.78×)1,066
- 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.30×)1,787
- 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.21×)1,343
- 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.14×)3,379
Housing
Education
Workforce
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More on FDI Connect
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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.