Jackson County, West Virginia Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Jackson County, West Virginia, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Jackson County, West Virginia. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Jackson County, West Virginia. The estimated population of Jackson County, West Virginia is 28,011 people, with a median age of 43.6.

We can look at the total population in Jackson County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
28,011
 -2.72% -3.82%
2020
28,793
 -0.39% -
2019
28,907
 -0.38% -
2018
29,018
 -0.36% -
2017
29,123
 - -

Population of Jackson County, West Virginia by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
96.5%
97.1%
 -0.62%
Black/African American
0.3%
0.1%
 +200.00%
Native
0.3%
0.8%
 -62.50%
Hispanic
1%
0.4%
 +150.00%
Asian
0.4%
0.3%
 +33.33%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
1.5%
1.2%
 +25.00%
Other
0%
0.1%
 -100.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Jackson County, West Virginia by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 43.6 +0.23% 41.5 +1.22% 45.8 -0.22%
2020 43.5 -0.46% 41 -1.68% 45.9 +1.1%
2019 43.7 +0.69% 41.7 +0.48% 45.4 0%
2018 43.4 +0.93% 41.5 -0.24% 45.4 +1.79%
2017 43 - 41.6 - 44.6 -

The median age of Jackson County, West Virginia gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 1,832 -8.04% 1,814 -11.08% 1,682 1,618
10 to 19 1,858 -5.94% 1,569 -0.61% 1,741 1,550
20 to 29 1,609 -6.87% 1,448 -6.41% 1,500 1,357
30 to 39 1,612 +8.46% 1,655 +7.83% 1,745 1,788
40 to 49 1,928 -16.65% 1,860 -18.62% 1,624 1,537
50 to 59 2,075 +5.51% 2,019 +5.32% 2,189 2,111
60 to 69 1,764 -7.91% 1,906 -5.33% 1,611 1,797
70+ 1,762 +2.72% 2,412 -2.08% 1,801 2,360

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Jackson County, West Virginia is $53,165.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Jackson County.

  • Under 25
    $0.00
  • 25 to 44
    $70,365.00
  • 45 to 64
    $56,848.00
  • 65 and over
    $39,446.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Jackson County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Jackson County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Jackson County, West Virginia is currently $69,560.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.41% of households in Jackson County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Jackson County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    24.33%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.65%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    19.28%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    11.98%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    11.85%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.51%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.41%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Jackson County is $28,937.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Jackson County by the total population of Jackson County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Jackson County, West Virginia, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Jackson County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    7.00%
  • Bachelor's degree
    18.56%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.81%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    63.11%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.52%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Jackson County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Jackson County over the age of 16 is 22,771.

Of those people, a total of 46.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Jackson County is 45.00%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 1,351 14.10% 7.90%
20 to 24 years 1,368 46.10% 10.50%
25 to 29 years 1,489 69.60% 5.60%
30 to 34 years 1,610 75.50% 0.00%
35 to 44 years 3,249 72.50% 2.50%
45 to 54 years 3,764 68.30% 6.30%
55 to 59 years 2,371 55.90% 1.30%
60 to 64 years 1,871 45.40% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 3,209 12.50% 0.00%
75 years and over 2,489 1.60% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Jackson County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 22,237 46.80% 3.60%
Black or African American 71 78.90% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 92 0.00% 0.00%
Asian 73 35.60% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 0 0.00% 0.00%
Two or more races 298 45.00% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 285 50.50% 0.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 22,065 47.00% 3.60%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Jackson County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Jackson County is 10,238, with median earnings of $42,075.00.

Women in Jackson County, West Virginia earning approximately 63.80% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 10,238 $42,075.00
Male 5,462 $51,695.00
Female 4,776 $32,972.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 970 $55,217.00
Business and Financial 194 $73,542.00
Computer and Mathematical 70 $54,352.00
Architecture and Engineering 183 $56,587.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 82 $37,092.00
Community and Social Service 119 $33,750.00
Legal 143 $86,023.00
Educational and Library 610 $49,209.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 57 $14,375.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,212 $74,779.00
Healthcare Support 308 $20,543.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 46 $65,938.00
Law Enforcement 48 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 479 $18,750.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 373 $14,747.00
Personal Care and Service 132 $21,967.00
Sales 1,020 $25,288.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,101 $29,147.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 82 $30,096.00
Construction and Extraction 834 $54,754.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 402 $61,667.00
Production 647 $63,682.00
Transportation and Material Moving 431 $41,620.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 604 $64,952.00 366 $48,624.00
Business and Financial 65 $78,320.00 129 $71,583.00
Computer and Mathematical 15 $0.00 55 $57,557.00
Architecture and Engineering 117 $77,396.00 66 $34,512.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 14 $0.00 68 $36,735.00
Community and Social Service 58 $38,750.00 61 $32,772.00
Legal 42 $0.00 101 $34,971.00
Educational and Library 202 $58,048.00 408 $47,755.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 29 $0.00 28 $0.00
Healthcare Practitioners 244 $101,250.00 968 $69,679.00
Healthcare Support 29 $0.00 279 $20,938.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 40 $66,406.00 6 $0.00
Law Enforcement 48 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 188 $9,815.00 291 $19,020.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 158 $30,781.00 215 $14,234.00
Personal Care and Service 0 $0.00 132 $21,967.00
Sales 443 $36,490.00 577 $22,480.00
Office and Administrative Support 333 $36,094.00 768 $27,778.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 82 $30,096.00 0 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 811 $57,750.00 23 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 344 $48,250.00 58 $0.00
Production 568 $69,833.00 79 $35,875.00
Transportation and Material Moving 431 $41,620.00 0 $0.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 11,127 households in Jackson County, with an average household size of 2.5 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 7,229 families in Jackson County with an average family size of 3.15 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 5,838 444 947 3,898
Average Household Size 3.11 3.95 3.81 1.12
Total Families 5,838 444 947 0
Average Household Size 3.07 3.57 3.43 0

Poverty

Of the 7,229 families in Jackson County, 9.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Jackson County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 12,959 housing units in Jackson County, West Virginia.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 11,127 85.86%
Vacant 1,832 14.14%

17.70% of the total 12,959 housing units in Jackson County are rental units. This is approximately 2,294 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 8,424 are occupied by the owner - or 65.01% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Jackson County is $698.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Jackson County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    409
  • Less than $500
    489
  • $500 to $999
    1,302
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    503
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    0
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    0
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Jackson County is $137,800.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Jackson County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    800
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    2,058
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    1,805
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    1,791
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    1,174
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    708
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    75
  • $1,000,000 or more
    13

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Jackson County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Jackson County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    822
  • 1940 to 1949
    133
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,088
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,463
  • 1970 to 1979
    2,873
  • 1980 to 1989
    1,791
  • 1990 to 1999
    2,072
  • 2000 to 2009
    2,143
  • 2010 to 2013
    574
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Jackson County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    1,064
  • 1 vehicle available
    2,959
  • 2 vehicles available
    4,141
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    2,963

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Jackson County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Jackson County that commute to work in a particular way.

29.5 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Jackson County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    521
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    996
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    1,326
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    948
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    1,168
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    220
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    899
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    87
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    724
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    1,528
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    841
  • 90 or more minutes
    234

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Jackson County, West Virginia in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Jackson County, West Virginia

We have data for 5 places in Jackson County, West Virginia. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.