county

Preston County, WV

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

AI Overview

Preston County is a small rural county of 34,204 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 49.8% and an unemployment rate of 6.2%, reflecting a limited but low-cost workforce where median worker earnings run $37,904 and median gross rent is $753 per month. Educational attainment is modest, with 17.9% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, while the 81.5% homeownership rate and median home value of $157,700 point to an established, place-rooted population with a median age of 43.3. The county posted slight population growth of 1.1% over five years, and a GDP per capita of $21,768 against a median household income of $61,880 indicates a local economy with limited commercial output relative to household earnings.

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

Population

34,204

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,880

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.1% since 2018

Preston County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone30,270 (88.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone2,258 (6.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races879 (2.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race404 (1.2%)
  • Asian Alone125 (0.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone118 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish437
  2. 2.Other Indo-European55
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic46
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)9
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)7

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,921

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$21,768

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,645

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance4,090
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,524
  3. 3.Construction (Group)1,141
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)1,067
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)923

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations3,826
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations2,752
  3. 3.Service Occupations2,597
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,323
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,049

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 4.11×)881
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.64×)1,039
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.24×)3,884
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.17×)743
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.12×)1,039

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$157,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$753/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,800 (17.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,236 (11.8%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999834 (8.0%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999819 (7.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999753 (7.2%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999544 (5.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

85.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

49.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,904

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone10,226 (76.1%)
  • Carpooled1,714 (12.8%)
  • Worked At Home1,161 (8.6%)
  • Walked246 (1.8%)
  • Other64 (0.5%)
  • Public Transit14 (0.1%)

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.