age distribution population trends race and origin

Population

In 1950 Barbour County had a population of 19,745 residents. Today there are 15,699 residents representing a 21 percent decrease in population. Table A illustrates that Barbour County's population has fluctuated, growing in the 1970s and decreasing in the 1980s. The up and down economy of the coal industry is largely responsible for the population shifts. However, Philippi with a population hovering around 3,000 residents has remained stable for the last three decades.

Barbour County, as many rural counties in West Virginia, gained population in the 1970s but lost in the 1980s. From an economic perspective, West Virginia was hard hit by employment declines in the 1980s, leading to increased population out migration. However, now there are signs that those employment declines are abating. Furthermore, as Philippi is beginning to experience, the baby boomer generation is beginning to seek rural retirement homes and their expenditures into the local economy are creating additional jobs.

Utilizing two different assumptions based on the balance of birth, death and migrations rates, the Regional Research Institute of West Virginia University projects that the population of Barbour County will either grow by 6% by the Year 2000 or decline by 5%. As the projection forecasting 6% growth is based on rates over a longer period of time coupled with data indicating that the economy has bottomed out and is beginning to come back, Barbour County and therefore Philippi should anticipate moderate growth within this decade.