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Also, Arkansas has six F500 HQs which is a lot for a small Southern state. That's more than KY, LA, SC, AL, MS, WV, and OK, and it is smaller than all of those states except WV.
It may depend on the type of work you could do, as the North Central(Morgantown, Clarksburg, Fairmont, etc.) and Eastern Panhandle(Martinsburg, Charles Town, Ranson, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, etc.) portions of WV are actually growing. So, it may be a matter of where you look in that state. It doesn't hurt that parts of the Eastern Panhandle also has commuter rail into DC, as some of it is actually in that metro area.
You piqued my interest, so I went to some salary web sites and sure enough many areas of WV appear on paper to pay more in my field (Cat Scan Tech) than anywhere in AR. The average CT salary in Martinsburg, WV was $10,000 a year more than in NWA or Little Rock. I can only assume this has to do with the proximity to DC. Even Morgantown, WV was higher, though. That surprised me.
Arkansas may have a leg up on WV in many areas, but their average salaries (at least in my field) are still near or at the bottom of the barrel.
You piqued my interest, so I went to some salary web sites and sure enough many areas of WV appear on paper to pay more in my field (Cat Scan Tech) than anywhere in AR. The average CT salary in Martinsburg, WV was $10,000 a year more than in NWA or Little Rock. I can only assume this has to do with the proximity to DC. Even Morgantown, WV was higher, though. That surprised me.
Arkansas may have a leg up on WV in many areas, but their average salaries (at least in my field) are still near or at the bottom of the barrel.
That may be the case with Martinsburg. It is actually in the Hagerstown MD/Martinsburg WV metro area. I believe that Jefferson County to the east is the county actually in the DC metro.
Morgantown isn't too far south of Pittsburgh(about an hour or so away).
Arkansas, Little Rock is an underrated city with potential for economic growth. West Virginia doesn't have anything that can compare to Little Rock. The only area in West Virginia that has potential for economic growth is the north east pan handle, and that will just be overflow from D.C, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
Arkansas and it's not even close. Little Rock is a smaller metro, but it's huge compared to anything in WV. Arkansas is also much more affluent than WV and parts of Arkansas are very affluent, like NW Arkansas.
People do commute to the DC area from WV. The MARC commuter train has a line that goes to Martinsburg WV. I don't see the area growing much more into a commuter suburb than it already is. It's just too far out. That is a very small part of WV anyway.
WV does have some amazing outdoors type things to do and see and has some nice small cities (or towns actually) like Morgantown and Charleston.
I'm honestly not even sure why Arkansas has such a bad reputation. It's a pretty nice state with some nice urban and suburban areas and some nice small towns. It also does not seem like an extremely poor state like its image would portray. WV on the other hand often lives up to its reputation in real life, at least from my experience and more so than Arkansas.
Arkansas and it's not even close. Little Rock is a smaller metro, but it's huge compared to anything in WV. Arkansas is also much more affluent than WV and parts of Arkansas are very affluent, like NW Arkansas.
People do commute to the DC area from WV. The MARC commuter train has a line that goes to Martinsburg WV. I don't see the area growing much more into a commuter suburb than it already is. It's just too far out. That is a very small part of WV anyway.
WV does have some amazing outdoors type things to do and see and has some nice small cities (or towns actually) like Morgantown and Charleston.
I'm honestly not even sure why Arkansas has such a bad reputation. It's a pretty nice state with some nice urban and suburban areas and some nice small towns. It also does not seem like an extremely poor state like its image would portray. WV on the other hand often lives up to its reputation in real life, at least from my experience and more so than Arkansas.
There are two things that I can think of: the "Bangin' in Little Rock" HBO documentary in the 90's, and the Delta region. Even so, there are several more positives that would outweigh those, I think. Although I've not yet visited, it seems to me to be a pretty underrated place.
Arkansas and it's not even close. Little Rock is a smaller metro, but it's huge compared to anything in WV. Arkansas is also much more affluent than WV and parts of Arkansas are very affluent, like NW Arkansas.
People do commute to the DC area from WV. The MARC commuter train has a line that goes to Martinsburg WV. I don't see the area growing much more into a commuter suburb than it already is. It's just too far out. That is a very small part of WV anyway.
WV does have some amazing outdoors type things to do and see and has some nice small cities (or towns actually) like Morgantown and Charleston.
I'm honestly not even sure why Arkansas has such a bad reputation. It's a pretty nice state with some nice urban and suburban areas and some nice small towns. It also does not seem like an extremely poor state like its image would portray. WV on the other hand often lives up to its reputation in real life, at least from my experience and more so than Arkansas.
I believe that the closest thing to the Little Rock metro in WV is the new Charleston-Huntington CSA, which has about 700,000 people. Some of that does include parts of the Huntington MSA in KY and OH. So, the WV portion of the CSA has about 550,000 people or so.
Also, believe it or not, WV has a slightly higher median household income than AR, according to 2010-2014 census info. WV has/had a median household income of $41,576, while AR has/had a median household income of $41,264.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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I just want to throw this in.
One thing Arkansas does not suffer from is the rampant coal industry coupled with a lack of other industries.
Coal companies are a poison on West Virginia. They have ravaged the state and its people, and worse yet, they have so many West Virginians convinced that there is no other hope but coal. Which is not true.
High tech industry can be placed essentially anywhere. Terrain be damned, West Virginia is a comparably un-tapped state in terms of computer industry, Medical research centers, etc.
West Virginia has a good opportunity (at least regionally) in wine production. Something that coal poisoning is holding hostage.
The lumber industry already exists there but can arguably grow.
Tourism, if the image of the state improves nationally (and it could!), could be an absolute gold mine for WV; being debatably the most scenic and beautiful inland eastern state.
Higher education is already growing in WV! As well it should continue to do so. WV colleges are gaining more respect and I think they are the key to attracting high tech companies, along with booting or tightening the regulations on coal moguls.
I am positive there are other opportunities for the state left in the shadow by the greedy who control the state. In reality WV has no less to offer than most of the nation, it is just un-tapped, un-researched and under the thumb of corruption.
West Virginia is a victim of its corrupt politicians, the lazy and selfish extraction industries, and the unfortunate duping of its people by said industries. Not to mention the general malaise the rest of the country often demonstrates towards WV.
When my brother got married and started his family, he made the deliberate decision to move from Parkersburg, WV to a small town across the Ohio River called Belpre, OH. Although his job is in Parkersburg, he did not want his children to grow up with the stigma attached to West Virginia. Even residents from the bordering counties of Ohio degrade West Virginia, despite it being basically the same region and facing the same problems. There are quite a few former West Virginians on the Ohio side who moved for the same reason.
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