Nicholas County, West Virginia

• White (non-Hispanic) 23,372 96.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 265 1.1%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 133 0.5%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 59 0.2%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 434 1.8%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 2 0.0%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 12 0.0%

• Under 18 5,122 21.1%
• 18–24 1,468 6.0%
• 25–44 5,248 21.6%
• 45–64 6,630 27.3%
• 65 and over 5,809 23.9%

Median household income

$53,678

90% interval $48,799–$58,557

−$6,984 vs WV · 38th of 55

Below poverty line

16.4%

90% interval 12.4%–20.4%

+0.2 pp vs WV · 31st of 55

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.4%

+1 pp vs. state

County GDP

$883.2M

0.83% of state

Avg. annual pay

$50,393

Establishments

824

• Education & health services 1,971 28.2%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 1,895 27.1%
• Leisure & hospitality 813 11.6%
• Manufacturing 574 8.2%
• Natural resources & mining 374 5.4%
• Professional & business services 357 5.1%
• Public administration 328 4.7%
• Construction 307 4.4%
• Financial activities 165 2.4%
• Other services 128 1.8%
• Information 75 1.1%

Home ownership

82.2%

+7.3 pp vs WV · 14th of 55

Median gross rent

$686

−$186 vs WV · 42nd of 55

Owner-occupied

7,782

Renter-occupied

1,684

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 67% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Natural resources & mining, $91,839/yr) pays 4.4× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $20,985/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 8.5 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 7,960 79.3%
• Democratic 1,919 19.1%
• Other / third-party 158 1.6%

• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 50 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 47 0.2%
• Spanish 32 0.1%
• Tagalog 29 0.1%
• Chinese 7 0.0%

Households

9,466

Family households

6,118

64.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,480

24.2% of families

Single-mother families

326

5.3% of families

Veterans

1,456

7.6% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 3,869 15.7%
• Evangelical Protestant 3,736 15.2%
• Catholic 824 3.3%
• Black Protestant 566 2.3%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 450 1.8%

Health insured

94.2%

±1.7 pp

Uninsured

5.8%

±1.7 pp

39th of 55

With a disability

22.0%

±2.2 pp

18th of 55

Bachelor's or higher

23.3%

±3.7 pp

−0.8 pp vs WV · 14th of 55

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

8.4%

90% interval 7.3%–9.5% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

16th Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

2 (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

Summersville

Traffic fatalities

6

31.32 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

6