McDowell County, WV
Demographic and economic profile of McDowell County, WV, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
McDowell County has a small, declining workforce of roughly 18,400 residents, with a labor force participation rate of just 28.5% and an unemployment rate of 14.9%, reflecting the county's long economic contraction following the collapse of its coal-centered base. Educational attainment is low, with only 5.7% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 75.9% completing high school, while median worker earnings stand at $30,400 against a poverty rate of 30.9%. Housing costs are among the lowest measurable anywhere, with a median home value of $49,200 and median gross rent of $686 per month, though population has fallen 4.2% over the past five years and GDP per capita sits at $28,547.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-4.2% since 2018
McDowell County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- White Alone15,784 (88.0%)
- Black or African American Alone1,611 (9.0%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races420 (2.3%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race82 (0.5%)
- Some Other Race Alone20 (0.1%)
- American Indian & Alaska Native Alone17 (0.1%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish281
- 2.Arabic26
- 3.German or other West Germanic23
- 4.Other Indo-European20
- 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)17
Economy
Cost of Living Index
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Not yet cached
Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,129
- 2.Public Administration (Group)500
- 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining443
- 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities386
- 5.Retail Trade (Group)363
Top Occupations
- 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,163
- 2.Sales & Office Occupations881
- 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations700
- 4.Service Occupations561
- 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations455
Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)
- 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 8.13×)485
- 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.19×)387
- 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.23×)1,077
- 4.Other Services (LQ 1.02×)179
- 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.93×)204
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.