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Dying counties in the U.S. were rare until the 1960s, when the baby boom ended. By 1973, as farming communities declined, roughly 515 counties — mostly in the Great Plains — reported natural decrease. The phenomenon then began to show up in industrial regions, such as upstate New York and California. Natural decrease peaked in 2002 at a record 985, or 1 in 3 counties, before increasing births and an influx of Hispanic immigration helped add to county populations during the housing boom.
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In West Virginia, more than 40 of its 55 counties had natural decrease over the past decade. Yet the state still gained population overall, and averted a loss of a U.S. House of Representatives seat based on the 2010 census.
It wasn't because of a last-minute turnaround. Most of West Virginia's population gains are new residents spilling over into the eastern part of the state from the blossoming Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area. The three counties on the Maryland line — Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson — each had substantial increases. It's a different story in West Virginia's northern panhandle, along the edge of Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.
Last edited by Silkdashocker; 02-22-2011 at 10:49 PM..
I'd say that's pretty accurate except that North Central is also having increases, particularly in Monongalia, and that looks to continue. Ohio and Marshall Counties in the Northern Panhandle seem poised for a recovery as well due to major new retail activity along the PA line and Marcellus activity.
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