CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia’s most populous county will be much closer to the nation’s capital than the state capital in a few decades, if current U.S. Census trends continue.
Kanawha (kuh-NAW) County, has long been the state’s largest. About 50 miles from the border with Kentucky and Ohio, it’s been the permanent home of West Virginia’s government operations since 1885. It’s also the location of the state’s largest city, Charleston.
But Kanawha County has been steadily losing population since the 1980s. It lost 1,966 residents last year alone, according to Census figures released Thursday, the most in the state. Kanawha now has 186,241 residents.
If current rates hold, fast-growing Berkeley County, roughly 300 miles northeast of Charleston by road, is on pace to pass Kanawha County by the year 2035.
Dan Dulyea, vice president of the Berkeley County Council, thinks it could happen sooner.
Berkeley County, like the rest of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, has been a hotbed of growth. Its population has nearly doubled this century. Last year it had the state’s largest increase with a gain of 1,890 residents and now has 113,525 residents.
At Berkeley County’s rate of growth and Kanawha County’s rate of decline, with other factors remaining the same, Berkeley County would become the state’s most populous in 18 years.
“It’s definitely going to change Berkeley County,” Dulyea said.
About 80 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., Berkeley County has tried to maintain a rural appeal, with fishing and hunting opportunities in the nearby 23,000-acre Sleepy Creek wildlife management area. But the growth is starting to catch up.
Procter & Gamble is building a $500 million manufacturing hub and bringing 700 permanent jobs near Martinsburg to improve access to East Coast customers.
Four years ago, Berkeley County opened its fourth high school - some rural counties in the state have only one.
“We’re in that transition right now,” Dulyea said. “The residential areas are sprawling. We’re getting a lot more businesses locating here all the time.”
Some in the Eastern Panhandle live closer to New York City than Charleston, and connecting to the rest of West Virginia isn’t easy. It can mean leaving and then re-entering the state. News coverage often comes from Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. And more than one-fourth of Berkeley County’s workforce goes to out-of-state jobs. The number rises in nearby Jefferson County, which is even closer to the nation’s capital.
Dulyea said the hope is that a commercial flight will soon be offered from the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport to Charleston. Otherwise, it’s a five-hour drive through mountains.
Despite the Eastern Panhandle’s boom, population declines in West Virginia’s southern coal-producing counties led to an overall drop in the state’s population last year.
The Census figures show 47 of the state’s 55 counties lost population from 2015 to 2016, including 20 counties that lost more than 200 residents.
Nine of the 10 counties that lost the most population were in southern West Virginia, which has seen a downturn in the coal industry in recent years.
Putnam County is the only southern county to gain population with an increase of 142 residents. Cabell County reversed several years of gains with a population loss of 666 residents.
Monongalia County, home of West Virginia University, gained 631 residents.
Overall, West Virginia’s population fell by 9,951 to 1.83 million. The only state to lose more residents was Illinois.
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