West Virginia Chamber 2025 Campaign for Jobs Digest Key Indicators of West Virginia’s Business Climate
The 2025 Campaign for Jobs Digest provides a data-driven look at key measures of West Virginia’s economic health. It offers a side-by-side comparison of how West Virginia ranks on 61economic indicators compared to other states.
Overall, the Campaign for Jobs Digest shows the state’s economic strengths and challenges. We encourage readers to use this book as a resource to help guide and champion West Virginia’s economy and to strengthen all people, industry sectors and communities.
Chamber in Action: Our Work
The West Virginia Chamber is our state’s largest advocate for economic policy improvement.
We unite our state’s employers around the goal of creating a state that is healthier, better educated, more prosperous and provides opportunity for all.
West Virginia Chamber members are your small business neighbors. They are located across all 55 counties and employ over half the state’s workforce.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is proud of its role as the voice of business for nearly 90 years.
Table Title
1 State Populations (July 1, 2023)
2 Percentage of Population as Prime Working Age (2023)
3 Age Group by Percentage of Population (2023)
4 Net Migration by State (July 1, 2023-July 1, 2024)
5 Non-Agriculture Employment Growth (September 2023–September 2024)
6 Non-Agriculture Employment Growth (10 yr) (Sept. 2014–Sept. 2024)
7 Per Capita Personal Income by State (2023)
8 Per Capita Personal Income Growth by State (2023)
9 Gross Domestic Product Growth by State in Current Dollars (2023)
10 Exports Per Capita (2023)
11 Opening & Closing Rates of Establishments (Q2 2023–Q1 2024)
12 Census Estimates of State and Local Taxes (2022)
13 Business Taxes Per Employee as a Share of all Taxes and GSP (FY 2022)
14 Top Income Bracket by State (2025)
15 Top Corporate NET Income Bracket by State (2025)
16 Sales Tax Rates by State (2025)
17 Motor Fuel Taxes (July 2024)
18 CNBC Top States for Business Rankings (July 2025)
19 Effective Property Tax Rate on a Primary Residence in the State’s Largest City (Payable 2023)
20 Effective Property Tax Rate on a Commercial Property in the State’s Largest City (Payable 2022)
21 Effective Property Tax Rate on an Industrial Property in the State’s Largest City (Payable 2023)
22 State and Local Government Employment (March 2023)
23 State and Local FTE Average Pay (March 2023)
24 State of the Tech Workforce (Cyberstates 2024)
25 Wages & Productivity of Production Workers in Manufacturing (2021)
26 Annual Average Investment Per Employee in Manufacturing (2021)
27 Union Members as a Share of Employment (2023)
28 Union Membership - Public vs. Private (2023)
29 Unemployment Insurance Taxes (2023)
30 Regular Unemployment Insurance Payments (2nd Quarter 2024)
31 State Minimum Wage (January 1, 2025)
32 Venture Capital Investments (2023)
33 Overall R&D Spending (2021)
34 R&D Expenditures Per Capita by Performing Sector (2022)
35 Science, Engineering and Health Doctorates (2021, 2022)
36 Educational Attainment of Population Age 25 and Older (2023)
37 Higher Education Total Fall Enrollment as Percentage of Population: Private (Fall 2021)
38 Higher Education Fall Enrollment in Private For-Profit and Non-Profit Colleges (Fall 2021)
39 Import/ Export Ratio of College-Bound High School Graduates (Fall 2022)
40 National Assessment of Educational Progress (2024)
41 Estimated Public School Spending Per Pupil (2024)
42 Average Salary of Teachers (2024)
43 Average Retail Price Per KwH for Industrial Customers (2022-2023)
44 Average Retail Price Per KwH for Commercial Customers (2022-2023)
45 Average Retail Price Per KwH for Residential Customers (2022-2023)
46 Healthcare Expenditures Per Capita (2023)
47 Annual Healthcare Costs
48 State Expenditures on Roadways (2021)
49 Generation of Energy Resources by States (2023)
50 Housing Price Appreciation (3rd Quarter 2024)
51 Home Ownership Rates (3rd Quarter 2019–3rd Quarter 2024)
52 Median Monthly Housing-Related Costs
53 Median Home Prices and Mortgage Payments by State
54 Percentage With Health Insurance (2023)
55 Percent of Privately Insured Persons with Employment-Based Insurance (2023)
56 State and Local Government Health and Hospital Spending (2022)
57 Occupational Injury and Illness Incidence (2023)
58 Partisan Composition of State Governments (November 27, 2024)
59 Per Capita / Household Income by West Virginia County (2023)
60 Population and Change in Population by County (April 2020-July 2023)
61 Workforce Participation Rate
West
West Virginia ranks 36th in percentage of
(25-64) and 5th in percentage of
West Virginia’s population consists of 19.9% who are less than 18 years old, 8.8% between the ages of 18-24, 24% ages 25-44, 25.9% ages 45-64, and 21.5% above the age of 64.
West Virginia ranks 22nd in net domestic migration and 46th in net
West
West Virginia ranks 48th in
(10
and
Capita Personal Rank State Income (2023)
West Virginia ranks the 13th highest in business taxes per employee and 8th highest in the
and the 12th highest in
Charleston West Virginia is 47th in
West Virginia ranked 26th in 2023 and 23rd in 2022 for share of employment held
West
West Virginia ranks 41st in the number of people that have been awarded a science and engineering doctorate degree and ranks 43rd in percentage of the workforce that hold a science, engineering, and health doctorate degree.
# S&E S, E, & H % of Workforce Doctorates Doctorates with S, E, & H Rank State Awarded 2022 Employed 2021 Doctorates 2021 Rank
West Virginia ranks 50th in Percentage of the population (above age 25) that hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, 43rd in percentage of the population that completed high school (or an equivalent) or higher, and ranks 50th in percentage of the population that holds an advanced degree.
West Virginia ranks 4th in private enrollment for a 4-year undergraduate degree as a percentage of the population, 14th in post-baccalaureate degrees, and 3rd in 2-year degree enrollment.
West
West Virginia ranks as the 3rd highest importer of college bound high school graduates and ranks 38th for freshmen enrolled in institutions inside the state, with the into state migration being higher than the out of state migration.
Import/Export Freshman Ratio enrolled in (<1 Exporter, Migration institutions Rank State >1= Importer) Out-of-State Into State inside state Rank
West Virginia ranks 46th in 4th grade reading scores and 48th in 8th grade reading scores. For math scores, West Virginia ranks 47th in 4th grade and 48th in 8th grade.
West
West Virginia ranks 22nd in price per KwH for commercial customers in 2023 (measured in cents/KwH).
West Virginia ranks 24th in price per KwH for residential customers in 2023 (measured in cents/KwH).
West
West Virginia ranks 1st in energy generation by coal, 44th in energy generation by gas, 12th in energy generation by petroleum, and 41st in energy generation from renewables. There is no nuclear energy generation in the state.
West Virginia ranks 46th for the 25-year annualized rate for housing appreciation, 43rd for the 5-year annualized rate, and 30th for the 1-year rate.
West Virginia ranks 2nd for home ownership rates for 2024 and 30th for percent change since 2019.
West Virginia ranks 16th for the percentage of those who have
and ranked 15th
West Virginia ranks 2nd for privately insured persons with employment-based insurance in 2023 and holds the 38th highest growth rate in that
West Virginia has a
and the
West Virginia had an overall decline in population from 2020 to 2024. Only seven counties saw their population increase, with Berkeley County having the highest growth. McDowell County had the largest decline on a percentage basis, losing over 10% of its 2020 population in those four years.
West Virginia dropped back to 50th in workforce participation after ranking 49th in 2023.
Steve Roberts, President sroberts@wvchamber.com
Kathy Thomas, Vice President & CFO kthomas@wvchamber.com
Brian Dayton, Vice President of Policy & Advocacy bdayton@wvchamber.com
Kaylin Jorge, Chief Communications, Development & Policy Officer kjorge@wvchamber.com
Andrea Oxley, Business Development, Policy and Strategic Growth Lead agarrett@wvchamber.com Lilly Barickman, Communications & Events Coordinator lbarickman@wvchamber.com
Kaitlyn N. Pytlak-Morra, Attorney and Counsel kpytlak-morra@wvchamber.com
Virginia Chamber of Commerce 1624 Kanawha Blvd. East, Charleston, WV 25311 304-342-1115
