The bipartisan State of the Nation Project has collected extensive data on West Virginia and compared it with other states. Below we provide a brief progress report that shows the state rank and trend for each measure.
West Virginia ranks higher, on average, on the topics of Civil Liberties (1), Environment (26), and Inequality (31), but lower on Education (51), Physical Health (51), and Mental Health (51). West Virginia also outperforms its South neighbors in 1 of the 14 topics and is improving over time on 9 of the 27 measures.
West Virginia Summary Table
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Children & FamiliesState
TrendState
Rank-
Child Mortality25
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Low Birthweight45
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Youth Depression46
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Children Living With Single Parent33
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Citizenship & DemocracyState
TrendState
Rank-
Voter Participation48
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Civil LibertiesState
TrendState
Rank-
Freedom of the Press1
-
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EconomyState
TrendState
Rank-
Economic Output42
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Productivity27
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EducationState
TrendState
Rank-
Academic Test Scores46
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Average Years of Education51
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Young Adults Employed or in School47
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EnvironmentState
TrendState
Rank-
Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions29
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Air Quality27
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InequalityState
TrendState
Rank-
Income Inequality30
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Poverty34
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Life SatisfactionState
TrendState
Rank-
Satisfaction with Current LifeNANA
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Social Isolation37
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Mental HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Depression51
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Fatal Overdoses51
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Suicide Rate37
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Physical HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Life Expectancy51
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Social CapitalState
TrendState
Rank-
Volunteerism45
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Trust in Other PeopleNANA
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TrustState
TrendState
Rank-
Trust in the Federal GovernmentNANA
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Trust in ScienceNANA
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ViolenceState
TrendState
Rank-
Murder Rate32
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Shootings32
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Work & Labor ForceState
TrendState
Rank-
Employment-to-Population Ratio (EPOP)50
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Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)50
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Long-Term Unemployment Rate41
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Hourly Earnings Growth38
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How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
