Estimated 2004 population: 1,815,354

Change from 2000: +7,010

2004 housing units: 866,944

Housing units change from 2000-2004: +29,834

Top West Virginia Cities

Beckley | Bluefield | Charleston | Charles Town | Clarksburg | Elkins | Fairmont | Glenville | Huntington | Madison | Marlinton | Moundsville | Parkersburg | Point Pleasant | Welch | Weirton | Wheeling

West Virginia Economy

West Virginia has extensive natural resources; it is among the nation's leading producers of bituminous coal, although coal production has declined. Natural gas, stone, cement, salt, and oil are also important.

Utilizing these mineral resources are major glass, chemical (including synthetic textile), and high-technology industries; they are concentrated in the highly industrialized Ohio and Kanawha river valleys, with Charleston a leading center, Huntington and Parkerburg are also important.

Other manufactures include primary and fabricated metals and machinery. Steel mills extend south from Pittsburgh, Pa., into the Northern Panhandle; Wheeling is a manufacturing hub there. Lumber has long been an important resource; about two thirds of the land is still forested, most of it in valuable hardwoods.

Since the 1960s a number of federal offices and facilities have been built in West Virginia, and government service is a growing employment sector.