Gilmer County, WV
Demographic and economic profile of Gilmer County, WV, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
Gilmer County is a small rural county in West Virginia with a population of 7,376 that has declined 10.1% over five years, signaling ongoing outmigration. The labor force participation rate is notably low at 36.5%, unemployment stands at 8.1%, and just 19.9% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with median worker earnings of $32,814. Housing costs are among the lowest available, with a median home value of $83,300 and median gross rent of $764 per month, and the 76.4% homeownership rate reflects a predominantly owner-occupied, low-cost residential base.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-10.1% since 2018
Gilmer County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- White Alone5,915 (81.2%)
- Black or African American Alone1,008 (13.8%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races170 (2.3%)
- Some Other Race Alone94 (1.3%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race76 (1.0%)
- Asian Alone16 (0.2%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish241
- 2.Other Indo-European20
- 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)10
- 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island2
Economy
Cost of Living Index
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Not yet cached
Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance837
- 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining227
- 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services201
- 4.Public Administration (Group)173
- 5.Retail Trade (Group)169
Top Occupations
- 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations794
- 2.Service Occupations539
- 3.Sales & Office Occupations272
- 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations246
- 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations208
Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)
- 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 5.74×)193
- 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.87×)186
- 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.66×)819
- 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 0.94×)173
- 5.Retail Trade (LQ 0.88×)202
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.