Relocating to West Virginia?

Enjoy your adventure as you visit the best West Virginia relocation resource available today.

Before you start your journey, take a minute and review what makes West Virginia a great place to work and play.

What makes West Virginia real estate worthwhile?

The rough-hewn hills and mountains of West Virginia define not only the state’s landscape, but much of its history and way of life. Isolated from advances in transportation and communication, many mountain communities developed a distinct culture expressed primarily through music and crafts. These traditions live on today in some of the state’s more remote areas. West Virginians revel in their colorful heritage during annual celebrations such as the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins and the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Festival in Beckley.

Coal mining continues to be a mainstay of the West Virginia economy, although increasing mechanization within the industry has produced a net loss of jobs and one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. The extraction of bituminous, or soft, coal from both underground and open-pit mines accounts for about 85 percent of all mineral income. The West Virginia mining industry provides the country with more than 16 percent of its coal, and contributes about 12 percent to the gross state product.

Efforts to diversify the economy have been quite successful, and today manufacturing and service industries play increasingly important roles. Manufacturing is concentrated in the Kanawha River valley, where companies in and around Charleston—the state’s largest city and commercial hub—turn out pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other products. Mills along the Ohio River, mainly near Weirton and Wheeling, produce sizable quantities of primary metals such as iron and steel. West Virginia is also renowned for its glassware and pottery, chiefly in the form of blown glass, stained glass, chinaware, and glass marbles. Although nearly two-thirds of the population lives outside cities and towns—only Vermont has a higher percentage of rural dwellers—agriculture is limited by the state’s rugged topography, which includes few expansive areas of level ground.

The Appalachian Plateau spreads across most of West Virginia, a labyrinth of steep-sided hills and flattened uplands interspersed with swift streams and narrow valleys. The Allegheny Front rises abruptly along the eastern border of the plateau. This rocky escarpment climbs to more than 1,219 meters (more than 4,000 feet) before folding eastward into the Allegheny Mountains. The slopes of the Alleghenies, thick with evergreen forests, line the eastern edge of West Virginia. Many streams and rivers course through the valleys, walled in by high, parallel ridges. The state’s border with Virginia runs along the crest of these peaks and, along with the rivers that form most of the remaining West Virginia boundaries, accounts for the state’s irregular shape.

Want to know more about West Virginia real estate?

Return to top