McDowell exodus

A few years ago, someone in Welch, W.Va., gave me what for over the phone. He resented the fact that when The Herald-Dispatch writes about population shifts in West Virginia, we always mentioned how bad things were in McDowell County.

Well, he's not going to like this next part, either.

I was looking at how the population has changed in the incorporated towns and cities in WV vs. how it has changed in the unincorporated areas. I took a peek at McDowell County. That county had close to 100,000 people in 1950. In 2006, the last year for which the Census Bureau has released estimates of places, the county's population was down to 23,882. The county had lost 12.6 percent of its people from 2000 to 2006.

The loss was spread fairly evenly throughout the county. The town of Davy had seen its population drop by 5.4 percent, but everywhere else -- including the unincorporated areas, was down 10.0 percent to 14.2 percent.

Jefferson County, on the other hand, saw its population increase 19.6 percent. Berkeley County went up 28.5 percent.

It's been a while since I was in McDowell County, but now I need to go back and see the town of Iaeger again. The last time I was there, you could tell it was a place that has seen better times.

Where do McDowell County people go when they leave? Based on recent county-to-county stats from the IRS, about half move to other counties in WV, especially nearby counties, and half move out of state. Iredell County NC appears to be a popular moving destination. That's the Statesville area.