The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has released its 2024 Campaign for Jobs Digest that includes key indicators of the state’s business climate and economic health. The report has a side-by-side comparison of how West Virginia fares against other states on 57 economic indicators.
The data-driven report quantifies both strengths and weaknesses of the state’s economy. Here are a few of the findings and what they mean, starting with the strengths.
–West Virginia is 23rd in net domestic migration. That means more people are moving to West Virginia than moving out. West Virginia is only 3,595 new residents on the plus side, but it is a positive considering that for years the state has suffered from a brain drain.
–Property taxes are the 13th lowest among all the states. That ties into net migration since it makes owning a home more affordable. In addition, the state ranks 14th lowest in per capita tax burden.
–West Virginia comes in 40th in CNBC’s Best States for Business rankings. At first, that seems like it belongs in the “weakness” category, but it is an improvement from 46th in 2023. Lower cost of living and for business operation helped West Virginia’s rating.
–The state’s economy is expanding. West Virginia’s GDP increased by 12 percent from 2021 to 2022, and that was good for a ranking of 5th.
–West Virginia’s corporate income tax rate of 6.5 percent ranks West Virginia 21st highest. So, the state is in the middle of the pack, but that is substantially better than a few years ago when the rate was among the highest in the nation at nine percent.
But the data also show challenges. Here are few of those:
–West Virginia is next to last in personal income at $49,169 per capita. Only Mississippi is lower at $46,248 per capita. So, West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country and we struggle with many of the issues associated with poverty.
–The state is also 49th in workforce participation rate with just 55 percent of working age adults employed. Again, Mississippi is last at 54 percent.
–West Virginia is short on investment dollars available. The state ranks 49th, ahead of only South Dakota, in venture capital investments.
–The state has poor rankings on several education-related factors. The state ranks 25th in spending per pupil, but near the bottom on reading and math scores for fourth and eighth graders, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing. Teacher salaries are at the bottom of all 50 states. West Virginia is 49th in the percentage of the population that holds a bachelor’s degree or higher.
There is a lot more data in the Chamber’s report, but you get the idea. Yes, the state is seeing improvement, and in some areas West Virginia is doing better than most other states. However, the data also shows there are other areas where we need to do much better.