Pandemic to Prosperity: South
PandemicToProsperity.org
This project provides a timely and comprehensive overview of Covid-related impacts on Southerners’ lives and livelihoods, governments, civic institutions, and overall well-being. State and local governments prioritizing projects for American Rescue Plan can use these findings to target disparities that ultimately undermine community resilience. Improving and expanding civic engagement and voting enfranchisement will be essential for improving Southerners’ health and well being.
In this report, the South is defined as the 12 states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
State Highlights
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This resource highlights key indicators where we have state or county-level data. Data on every indicator and related downloadable spreadsheets can be found at the links below:�
WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia still has 2.0% fewer jobs than it did in February 2020 before the pandemic hit.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Note: Seasonally adjusted. Data for Mar 2023 are preliminary.
Change in jobs by state
March 2023 compared to February 2020
West Virginia had the 2nd highest death rate in the nation (1,141 deaths per 100,000 population) in 2020 and 2021.
Source: CDC, Wonder.
Age-adjusted death rates per 100,000 population
Average for years 2020-21
Since the pandemic, West Virginia has enacted legislation that limits public health authority.
Source: Temple University Beasley School of Law Policy Surveillance Program. Notes: “Bill enacted” indicates the state has enacted at least 1 bill limiting the public health authority of the governor, state health official, and/or local health official regarding public health emergency orders.
States that have enacted bills limiting public health authority
Jan 2021- May 2022
Sources: Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2017-21 and Kaiser Family Foundation. Note: *North Carolina and South Dakota have adopted but not yet implemented Medicaid expansion. **Wisconsin has not adopted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion but it has partially expanded Medicaid, under a Medicaid waiver, to include all adults under 100 percent federal poverty level.
Lack of health insurance coverage by county, 2017-21 (5-yr average)
Percent of population age 19-64
In West Virginia, 10% of the working-age population lacks health insurance. The state has implemented Medicaid expansion.
41% of West Virginians who previously had Covid currently suffer from Long Covid symptoms.
Long Covid estimates, Mar 1-13, 2023
Percent of adults who previously had Covid, with symptoms lasting 3 months or longer
West Virginia had the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation in 2021 (91 deaths per 100,000 people).
Source: CDC. Notes: Drug overdose deaths are identified using ICD–10 underlying cause-of-death codes: X40–X44, X60–X64, X85, and Y10–Y14.
Drug overdose death rates, 2021
Age-adjusted per 100,000 population
In West Virginia, there were 12 firearm suicides per 100,000 in 2021, which is higher than the already high national rate of 8 firearm suicides.
Source: CDC/ Wonder mortality data. Notes: Race groups are non-Hispanic. “Other firearm deaths” include accidental firearm discharge; undetermined intent firearm discharge; and legal intervention involving firearm discharge.
Firearm suicide rates by state, 2021
Age-adjusted rates per 100,000 pop
In West Virginia, there were 217 deaths per 100,000 working-age people — the highest in the nation. Working-age death rates from external causes were 33% higher in Southern states compared to non-Southern states.
Source: CDC Wonder, NCSL, and EPI. Notes: PSL= paid-sick leave. External causes of death include: suicide (X66-X84, Y87.0), homicide (X86-X99, Y00-Y09, Y87.1), drug poisoning (X40–44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14), acute alcohol poisoning (X45, X65, Y15), and transport accidents (V01-V99, Y85). Data is provisional and age-adjusted.
Working-age deaths from external causes per 100,000 population, 2021
Population age 25-64
In West Virginia, severe maternal morbidity increased from 61 to 84 per 10,000 deliveries, from 2008 to 2019.
Severe maternal morbidity rates, U.S. and Southern states
Number of deliveries involving severe maternal morbidity per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Notes: Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is defined using diagnosis and procedure codes across the 21 indicators of SMM (e.g. heart failure, kidney failure, stroke, embolism, hemorrhage) excluding blood transfusions. If patients receiving blood transfusions due to complications of labor and delivery were included, the SMM rate would be much higher. Data for Alabama is not available.
About 24% of West Virginians hold medical debt in default, compared to 11% of Americans outside the South.
Share of individuals with medical debt in collections
February 2022
Source: Urban Institute and Kaiser Family Foundation. Note: Universe is people with a credit bureau record. Debt in collections includes past-due credit lines that have been closed and charged-off on the creditor’s books as well as unpaid bills reported to the credit bureaus that the creditor is attempting to collect. South Dakota has adopted but not yet implemented Medicaid expansion.
12% of West Virginians (approx. 213,000 people) are estimated to be eligible for federal student loan relief.
Source: U.S. Department of Education and Census Bureau PEP.
Percent of population estimated to qualify for federal student loan debt relief plan
2022
21% of West Virginia children live in poverty, compared to 16% of children outside the South. West Virginia does not preempt localities from increasing the local minimum wage.
Source: Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2021 and EPI.
Child poverty rates, 2021
Percent of children under 18 years old living below the poverty level
25% of West Virginia renters pay the majority of their household income on housing costs.
Severe housing cost burdens by county, 2017-21 (5-yr average)
Percent of renter households paying half or more of household income on housing costs
In West Virginia, 20% of Americans who are late on rent/mortgage said they feared losing their home.
Likelihood of eviction or foreclosure, Mar 1-13, 2023
Percent of adults living in households not current on rent or mortgage where eviction or foreclosure in the next two months is “very likely” or “somewhat likely”
11% of West Virginians reported their household went hungry in March.
Food insecurity, Mar 1-13, 2023
Percent of adults who report their household sometimes or often went hungry in last 7 days
42% of West Virginians report symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Symptoms of anxiety or depression, Mar 1-13, 2023
Percent of adults who experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression in the last two weeks
Source: CDC and Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Notes: This indicator is based on self-report of the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms, derived from responses to the first two questions of the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) scale.
In West Virginia, 31% of the population lives in counties that have experienced disasters in the last 3 years.
Source: FEMA. Notes: Excludes COVID declarations. Includes all other county-level disaster declarations, for example: hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes, levee breaks, landslides, earthquakes, and severe ice storms.
Number of FEMA disaster declarations by county
Mar 1, 2020 - Apr 11, 2023
West Virginia customers had the third highest cumulative hours (111) of power interruptions from 2013 to 2021.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Notes: "Momentary" interruptions that last 5 minutes or less are generally omitted. Data reported by utilities using IEEE standard as well as any other method.
Average annual duration of electric power interruptions, by state
Hours per customer
Counties with no or only one newspaper (“news deserts”)
News deserts as of 2022
78% of West Virginia counties are news deserts, meaning less access to critical information.
Source: Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2017-21. Note: “Lacking internet access” means the household has no internet subscription, no cellular data plan, and no access to the internet without a subscription (such as through property-wide Wi-Fi service in an apartment building).
16% of West Virginia households have no internet at home — not even a cellular data plan — compared to 10% of non-Southerners.
Lack of internet access by county, 2017-21 (5-yr average)
Percent of households without internet access
In West Virginia, voter turnout fell in the 2022 midterm elections: 36% of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot (compared to 43% in the 2018 midterms).
Source: U.S. Elections Project. Notes: Turnout rates are calculated as total ballots counted divided by the voting-eligible population (VEP).
Voter turnout as a percent of the voting-eligible population (VEP)
2022 midterm elections
In West Virginia, there were no competitive races in the 2022 midterm elections for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Source: Brennan Center and Cook Political Report. Notes: Maps drawn by partisan politicians include those drawn by the state legislatures, governors, or political redistricting commissions.
Competitive elections in the 2022 midterms
Percent of U.S. House races with a margin of victory of less than 8 percentage points
Southern Seats
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