McDowell County

The median income of households in McDowell County, West Virginia was $31,559. An estimated 9.8% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 0.8% had income of $200,000 or more.

An estimated 44.9% of households received earnings. An estimated 53.5% of households received Social Security and an estimated 27.2 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $19,776. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

In 2020-2024, 34.2 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 35.3% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 28.4% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 36.2% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

In 2020-2024, 36.5 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 38.1% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 46.7% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 24% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.

Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in McDowell County, West Virginia in 2020-2024, 91.2% had health insurance coverage and 8.8% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 30.7% and public coverage was 74.1%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 1.8%.

In 2020-2024, McDowell County, West Virginia had a total population of 17,943 - 8,381 (46.7%) females and 9,562 (53.3%) males. The median age was 43.7 years. An estimated 18.2% of the population was under 18 years, 31.4% was 19 to 44 years, 26.6% was 45 to 64 years, and 21.9 % was 65 years and older.

In 2020-2024, there were 6,467 households in McDowell County, West Virginia. The average household size was 2.44 people.

Married-couple households made up 42% of the households in McDowell County, West Virginia while cohabiting couple households made up 2.6% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 35.5% of all households, while 19.8% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 14.8% of households were male householders living alone, and 21.6% were female householders living alone, for a total of 36.4% of all households.

In McDowell County, West Virginia, 21.6% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 44.5% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

In 2020-2024, an estimated 98.4% of the people living in McDowell County, West Virginia were U.S. natives. 73.7% of the McDowell County, West Virginia population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 1.6% of McDowell County, West Virginia residents in 2020-2024 were foreign-born. 19.3% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 80.7 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of McDowell County, West Virginia come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2020-2024 for McDowell County, West Virginia.

Among people at least five years old living in McDowell County, West Virginia in 2020-2024, 2.4 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 1.7% of people at least five years old; 1.5% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

In 2020-2024, 93.3 % of the people at least one year old living in McDowell County, West Virginia were living in the same house one year earlier.

In 2020-2024, 75.5 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 6.8% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 24.5% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in McDowell County, West Virginia was 2,923 in 2020-2024. Nursery school enrollment was 92 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 2,437. College or graduate school enrollment was 394.

In McDowell County, West Virginia, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2020-2024, 29.8 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 7.2% of people under 18 years old, to 27.2% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 55.3% of those 65 and over.

In McDowell County, West Virginia, 24.9 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 72.9% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 70.5% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 28.8% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 0.8 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

In 2020-2024, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in McDowell County, West Virginia worked in the following industries:

An estimated 83.2% of McDowell County, West Virginia workers drove to work alone in 2020-2024, and 9.4% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 36 minutes to get to work.

In 2020-2024, McDowell County, West Virginia had a total of 9,336 housing units. Of these housing units, 72.7% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 4.6% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 22.7% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

2.5% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 29.5% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in McDowell County, West Virginia was 5.5 rooms, and of these housing units 55.2% had three or more bedrooms.

In 2020-2024, McDowell County, West Virginia had 6,467 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 2,869 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 77.3% while renters occupied 22.7%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 2.46 and in renter-occupied houses it was 2.36.

1.1% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 24% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 10.7% and another 16.2% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in McDowell County, West Virginia:

In 2020-2024, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in McDowell County, West Virginia was $50,000.

Of the owner-occupied households, 10.2 % had a mortgage. 89.8% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $906 and for owners without a mortgage it was $364.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for McDowell County, West Virginia was $643. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.