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Economy

Main article: Economy of West Virginia

See also: List of West Virginia counties by socioeconomic factors

See also: West Virginia locations by per capita income

According to the World Bank, West Virginia's economy would nominally be the world's 69th-largest, behind Luxembourg and ahead of Bulgaria. The state has a projected nominal GDP of $85.434 billion in 2009 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis report as of 2021, and a real GDP of $71.343 billion. The state's real GDP growth of 1.3% in 2021 was the 8th-best in the country.

West Virginia's unemployment rate in August 2019 was 4.6%, the lowest since the start of the Great Recession. As a result of the COVID pandemic, West Virginia's unemployment rate had risen to 6.1% in December 2020, which, by November 2022, had improved from pre-pandemic levels, reported at 4.1%.

The net corporate income tax rate is 6.5% while business costs are 13% below the national average. The largest employers in West Virginia are WVU Medicine; Walmart; CAMC Health; Mountain Health Network; Kroger; Lowe's; Contura Energy; Mon Health; American Consolidated Natural Resources and Mylan Pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that in 2014 West Virginia's economy grew twice as fast as the next fastest-growing state east of the Mississippi River, ranking third alongside Wyoming and just behind North Dakota and Texas among the fastest-growing states. While per capita income fell 2.6% nationally in 2009, West Virginia's grew at 1.8%. Through the first half of 2010, exports from West Virginia topped $3 billion, growing 39.5% over the same period from the previous year and ahead of the national average by 15.7%.

Tourism

Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County

Tourism contributed $4.27 billion to the state's economy and employed 44,400 people in 2010, making it one of the state's largest industries. Many tourists, especially in the eastern mountains, are drawn to the region's notable opportunities for outdoor recreation. Canaan Valley is popular for winter sports, Seneca Rocks is one of the premier rock climbing destinations in the eastern U.S., the New River Gorge/Fayetteville area draws rock climbers as well as whitewater rafting enthusiasts, and the Monongahela National Forest is popular with hikers, backpackers, hunters, and anglers.

Also drawing tourism to the state is the West Virginia State Park and State Forest system, which comprises 45 units covering 164,000 acres. In 2021, over 9 million people visited a West Virginia State Park, the highest number on record. This is partly due to a recent $151 million improvement project that has seen improvements at every park and forest.

In addition to such outdoor recreation opportunities, the state offers a number of historic and cultural attractions. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is a historic town situated at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. Harpers Ferry was the site of John Brown's 1859 raid on the U.S. Armory and Arsenal. Located at the approximate midpoint of the Appalachian Trail, Harpers Ferry is the base of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The Greenbrier hotel and resort, originally built in 1778, has long been considered a premier hotel, frequented by numerous world leaders and U.S. presidents over the years.

West Virginia is the site of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which features the Green Bank Telescope. For the 1963 Centennial of the State, it hosted two high school graduate delegates from each of the 50 States at the National Youth Science Camp near Bartow, and has continued this tradition ever since. The main building of Weston State Hospital is the largest hand-cut sandstone building in the Western Hemisphere, second worldwide only to the Kremlin in Moscow. Tours of the building, which is a National Historic Landmark and part of the National Civil War Trail, are offered seasonally and by appointment year-round. West Virginia has numerous popular festivals throughout the year.

Energy

Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia

One of the major resources in West Virginia's economy is coal. According to the Energy Information Administration, West Virginia is a top coal producer in the United States, second only to Wyoming. West Virginia is located in the heart of the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Bed, which stretches from Tennessee north to New York in the middle of Appalachia.

As of 2017, the coal industry accounted for 2% of state employment.

Nearly all the electricity generated in West Virginia is from coal-fired power plants. West Virginia produces a surplus of electricity and leads the nation in net interstate electricity exports. Farming is also practiced in West Virginia, but on a limited basis because of the mountainous terrain over much of the state.

An assessment from 2012 estimated that West Virginia had the potential to generate 8,627 GWh/year from 2,772 MW of 100-meter wind turbines, and 60,000 GWh from 40,000 MW of photovoltaics, including 3,810 MW of rooftop photovoltaics.

		West Virginia Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year	Capacity (MW)	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2009	330	742	86	86	69	71	31	49	49	32	46	71	68	86
2010	431	939	92	79	85	86	66	69	49	33	66	114	89	112
2011	564	1099	102	113	112	114	49	62	45	68	60	122	124	132
2012	583	1286	201	147	136	130	59	90	85	41	65	98	100	133
2013	583	1387	175	154	174	140	134	78	55	58	52	58	159	152
2014	583	1451	166	146	167	143	100	62	76	64	67	154	157	149
2015	583	1376	158	137	181	137	75	103	65	44	71	122	147	136
2016	686	1432	166	164	134	120	74	92	69	57	67	130	135	222
2017	686	1682	124	123	171	174	152	140	112	52	70	116	167	211
2018	686	1779	191	181	183	180	138	132	97	108	106	144	160	160
2019			160	131	144	185	152	162

Source:

Manufacturing

West Virginia's largest manufacturing employer is Viatris, followed by Toyota, Northrop Grumman, and several other Fortune 500 companies. In Charleston and Huntington, chemical manufacturers predominate, attracted by a readily available labor force and access by barge carriers. Metallurgy, especially steel, has been predominant in the northern panhandle due to a spill-over effect from the traditional center of the U.S. steel industry in Pittsburgh.

The state is a global chemical hub, cited by the Council of American States in Europe as one of [North America's premier destinations, with the presence of DuPont, Germany-based Bayer and Stockmeier Kunststoffe GmbH; a subsidiary of Japan-based Kureha, Ashland Specialty Chemical, Flexsys, and Brazil-based Braskem S.A. West Virginia has 80% community acceptance from the chemical industry nationwide, one of the highest in the nation. The chemicals industry accounts for one-fifth of manufacturing sector jobs and nearly 40% of the manufacturing sector's economic output in West Virginia. It is home to one of the highest concentration of resin producers in the world.

West Virginia is home to steel and metal companies such as Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal in Weirton, Steel of West Virginia Inc. in Huntington, Russia-based Severstal in Wheeling, Japan-based Nisshin Inc. in Wheeling, Follansbee Steel in Follansbee, Special Metals Corporation in Huntington, and Swanson Industries in Morgantown. In December 2010, Russia-based Mechel announced plans to construct a new $12 million coal processing plant in McDowell County.

Taxes

West Virginia personal income tax is based on federal adjusted gross income (not taxable income), as modified by specific items in West Virginia law. Citizens are taxed within five income brackets, which range from 3.0% to 6.5%. The state's consumer sales tax is levied at 6% on most products except for non-prepared foods.

West Virginia counties administer and collect property taxes, although property tax rates reflect levies for state government, county governments, county boards of education and municipalities. Counties may also impose a hotel occupancy tax on lodging places not located within the city limits of any municipality that levies such a tax. Municipalities may levy license and gross receipts taxes on businesses located within the city limits and a hotel occupancy tax on lodging places in the city. Although the Department of Tax and Revenue plays a major role in the administration of this tax, less than half of one percent of the property tax collected goes to state government.

The primary beneficiaries of the property tax are county boards of education. Property taxes are paid to the sheriff of each of the state's 55 counties. Each county and municipality can impose its own rates of property taxation within the limits set by the West Virginia Constitution. The West Virginia legislature sets the rate of tax of county boards of education. The total tax rate is a combination of the tax levies from four state taxing authorities: state, county, schools and municipal. This total tax rate varies for each of the four classes of property, which consists of personal, real and intangible properties. Property is assessed according to its use, location and value as of July 1. All property is reappraised every three years; annual adjustments are made to assessments for property with a change of value. West Virginia does not impose an inheritance tax. Because of the phase-out of the federal estate tax credit, West Virginia's estate tax is not imposed on estates of persons who died on or after January 1, 2005.