county

Nicholas County, WV

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

AI Overview

Nicholas County has a population of 24,446 with a notably older median age of 46.1 years and a low educational attainment rate — only 19.0% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The labor market is constrained, with a labor force participation rate of just 47.1% and an unemployment rate of 8.6%, while median worker earnings sit at $34,059 and median household income at $54,639. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $114,200 and median gross rent of $669/month, though the county has seen a population decline of 3.5% over five years and carries a poverty rate of 17.8%.

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

Population

24,446

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$54,639

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.5% since 2018

Nicholas County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone23,386 (96.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races407 (1.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone244 (1.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone133 (0.5%)
  • Asian Alone59 (0.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race46 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)66
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)61
  3. 3.Other Indo-European49
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)40
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic34

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

20.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,456

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$27,593

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,257

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

8.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,471
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,053
  3. 3.Construction (Group)758
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining694
  5. 5.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)644

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations3,235
  2. 2.Service Occupations1,655
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,484
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,337
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,112

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 5.03×)696
  2. 2.Other Services (LQ 1.59×)652
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.23×)624
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.17×)2,365
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.13×)680

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$114,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$669/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

82.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999849 (10.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999664 (8.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999624 (8.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999617 (7.9%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999575 (7.4%)
  • $60,000 to $69,999500 (6.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

19.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

88.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

47.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$34,059

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

33.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone6,935 (79.2%)
  • Carpooled1,170 (13.4%)
  • Worked At Home422 (4.8%)
  • Public Transit87 (1.0%)
  • Walked73 (0.8%)
  • Other65 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Nicholas County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

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