county

Hardy County, WV

Demographic and economic profile of Hardy County, WV, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Hardy County is a small, rural West Virginia county of 14,236 residents with an economy oriented toward goods-producing and agricultural sectors, reflecting its Appalachian setting. The workforce of roughly 8,300 labor force participants skews older (median age 46.7) and has limited college attainment—only 15.7% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—with median worker earnings of $31,924 and an unemployment rate of 5.7%. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $159,700 and median gross rent of $820/month, and the county posted modest population growth of 2.8% over five years, though a poverty rate of 17.6% and labor force participation of 58.6% signal ongoing structural constraints.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

14,236

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$49,272

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.8% since 2018

Hardy County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone12,798 (89.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone695 (4.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone392 (2.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race211 (1.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races133 (0.9%)
  • Asian Alone8 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish421
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic50
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic11
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)10
  5. 5.Other Indo-European8

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

916

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$54,017

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,876

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)1,340
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,126
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)808
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining432
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services402

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,731
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,660
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,041
  4. 4.Service Occupations949
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations760

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.32×)351
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 2.18×)1,441
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.32×)954
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.15×)175
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.97×)376

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$159,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$820/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999616 (13.4%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999569 (12.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999440 (9.6%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999438 (9.5%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999415 (9.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999408 (8.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

86.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$31,924

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

29.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,503 (75.3%)
  • Carpooled605 (10.1%)
  • Worked At Home547 (9.1%)
  • Walked203 (3.4%)
  • Public Transit90 (1.5%)
  • Other32 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.