CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is losing population faster than any other state, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census, and one economic analyst in West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics predicts the downward trend will continue.
John Deskins, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said that’s a big problem because population is a driver for economic development.
“If we want businesses to move here, we have to make it easy for them to find the workers that they need and, if we have a declining population and if we have an aging population, then the bottom line is we’re less attractive to businesses because it’s harder for them to staff themselves,” Deskins said.
Compared with 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau said West Virginia’s population dropped by about 3,300 residents in 2014, or .2 percent, with the losses spread out through nearly 40 counties.
Berkeley County, though, had the single largest gain in population in West Virginia in 2014 with more than 1,800 new residents. Combined with Jefferson County, the total growth there was about 2,500 people. Monongalia County saw growth of 1,246 residents in 2014.
“We really have dramatic differences across the state,” Deskins said of West Virginia’s regionalized economies. “The Eastern Panhandle is doing well, North Central is doing well, the Southern Coalfields are really suffering because of the losses in coal, for example.”
Deskins, a guest on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline,” said projections call for West Virginia to lose 20,000 people total between 2010 and 2030. He noted job losses are happening faster than expected which could speed up population losses.
The other states to see population declines in 2014 along with West Virginia were Illinois, New Mexico, Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska.