county

Barbour County, WV

Demographic and economic profile of Barbour County, WV, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Barbour County is a small rural West Virginia county of 15,454 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 50.0% and an unemployment rate of 10.3%, reflecting a limited and constrained workforce. Educational attainment is low, with only 12.2% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings stand at $35,627 against a poverty rate of 20.8%. The county has lost 7.6% of its population over five years, though housing costs remain low — median home value of $126,000 and median gross rent of $803/month — and homeownership is high at 79.3%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

15,454

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$51,394

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-7.6% since 2018

Barbour County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone13,963 (90.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race717 (4.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races324 (2.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone234 (1.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone104 (0.7%)
  • Asian Alone47 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish59
  2. 2.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)39
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island33
  4. 4.Other Indo-European23
  5. 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)21

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

20.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

951

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$35,069

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$26,055

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

10.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

20.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,513
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)643
  3. 3.Construction (Group)577
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services523
  5. 5.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining507

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,611
  2. 2.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,109
  3. 3.Service Occupations1,076
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations1,041
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations787

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.49×)409
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.55×)418
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.45×)572
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.17×)1,567
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.11×)299

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$126,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$803/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

78.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999655 (13.6%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999642 (13.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999423 (8.8%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999405 (8.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999355 (7.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999322 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

12.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

88.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

50.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$35,627

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,395 (80.1%)
  • Carpooled364 (6.6%)
  • Worked At Home364 (6.6%)
  • Walked186 (3.4%)
  • Other177 (3.2%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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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.