Kanawha County, West Virginia

• White (non-Hispanic) 151,690 85.9%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2,789 1.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 8,544 4.8%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 2,023 1.1%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 10,732 6.1%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 90 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 195 0.1%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 474 0.3%

• Under 18 34,925 19.8%
• 18–24 13,413 7.6%
• 25–44 42,985 24.3%
• 45–64 46,160 26.1%
• 65 and over 39,054 22.1%

Median household income

$62,137

90% interval $58,346–$65,928

+$1,475 vs WV · 14th of 55

Below poverty line

15.3%

90% interval 13.0%–17.6%

−0.9 pp vs WV · 38th of 55

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.2%

−0.21 pp vs. state

County GDP

$14.4B

13.57% of state

Avg. annual pay

$64,239

Establishments

6,837

• Education & health services 29,069 30.3%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 16,692 17.4%
• Public administration 12,388 12.9%
• Professional & business services 11,971 12.5%
• Leisure & hospitality 8,889 9.3%
• Financial activities 4,704 4.9%
• Construction 3,714 3.9%
• Manufacturing 3,280 3.4%
• Other services 2,676 2.8%
• Natural resources & mining 1,446 1.5%
• Information 1,112 1.2%
• Unclassified 7 0.0%

Home ownership

71.1%

−3.8 pp vs WV · 52nd of 55

Median gross rent

$906

+$34 vs WV · 9th of 55

Owner-occupied

54,328

Renter-occupied

22,131

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 61% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Natural resources & mining, $109,828/yr) pays 4.3× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $25,451/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 14 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 43,352 57.6%
• Democratic 30,231 40.2%
• Other / third-party 1,656 2.2%

• Spanish 1,217 0.7%
• Arabic 346 0.2%
• German or other West Germanic 304 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 237 0.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 133 0.1%
• Tagalog 122 0.1%
• Chinese 46 0.0%
• Korean 37 0.0%
• Vietnamese 34 0.0%

Households

76,459

Family households

45,315

59.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

10,234

22.6% of families

Single-mother families

4,680

10.3% of families

Veterans

9,532

6.8% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 32,370 17.9%
• Mainline Protestant 21,286 11.8%
• Catholic 8,236 4.6%
• Black Protestant 7,402 4.1%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 3,697 2.0%
• Orthodox 759 0.4%

Health insured

95.1%

±0.5 pp

Uninsured

4.9%

±0.5 pp

48th of 55

With a disability

19.6%

±0.8 pp

27th of 55

Bachelor's or higher

29.7%

±1 pp

+5.6 pp vs WV · 5th of 55

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

7.4%

90% interval 6.7%–8.1% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

8th Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

8 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); vintage 2026 courtswv.gov; cross-checked against W. Va. Code § 51-2-1a. Magistrate Courts (limited jurisdiction: misdemeanors, traffic, small civil up to $10K) are separately allocated one per county and not counted here. Family Court judges (domestic relations) also separate.)

Court seats

Charleston

Traffic fatalities

28

19.77 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

27