CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- According to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, West Virginia lost a higher percentage of its residents than any other state in the nation.
From 2010 to 2020, the population dropped 3.2%, or about 59,000 people. Because of that, West Virginia was one of only seven states to lose a congressional seat after the 2020 census.
Reasons for leaving vary, but common themes emerge: a lack of opportunity or low pay; not enough to do; a political climate that some find oppressive; and poor cellphone and internet service. According to the Census Bureau, only 79% of West Virginian households have a broadband internet subscription, the fifth-smallest rate in the country.
The population has suffered from changing demographics, with deaths outpacing births for the past two decades, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
In an effort to reverse the population losses, West Virginia started encouraging remote workers to move to the state of 1.79 million residents through a program that will pay them $12,000 cash along with free passes for a year's worth of whitewater rafting, golf, rock climbing and other outdoor activities.
Former resident Haley Miller wants no part of it. The energy poured into luring out-of-staters, she said, should be spent "helping people there who are suffering the most."
About 16% of West Virginia's residents live in poverty, surpassed only by Arkansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Louisiana and Mississippi. The nation's second-largest coal producer, West Virginia has lost 56% of its mining jobs since 2009 as power plants turn toward renewable energy sources.
Teachers are leaving for better-paying jobs, especially in bordering states. Despite winning 5% raises after a lengthy strike in 2018, West Virginia teachers remain 48th in the nation in average salaries, according to the National Education Association.
Meanwhile, Andrew Snyder is looking for a reason to come back permanently.
Snyder, 25, moved out of Charleston when he was a college freshman in 2016 to join the Army because he and his then-pregnant wife wanted to provide for their family. After leaving the Army, he found work as a defense contractor in Alabama -- one of only two other states that also lost population over the past decade, along with Illinois.
Snyder, whose relatives still live in West Virginia, dreams of moving to Morgantown one day to earn a master's degree. Still, he's concerned about poor broadband and spotty cell service in his native state.
Coming back has "got to be the right opportunity," Snyder said. "I make good money down here doing what I do."
For many, if not most of the people who have left, the conflict between the things that led them to leave and their fondness for sweeping mountain vistas, a manageable pace and having family close at hand never really goes away.
Snyder's grandparents are getting older. His wife has family in West Virginia, too. He loves to hunt and fish, and says they are "typical West Virginians."
"Nothing's ever home," he says, "unless you're home."
