West Virginia by the numbers
In West Virginia, the median worker earns $43,320 a year, the typical home is worth $155,600 and carries $835 of property tax, and the average household pays $165 a month for electricity at 16.80¢ per kilowatt-hour.
South PJM Regulated monopoly
Energy
West Virginia once had among the cheapest electricity in the country, generated from coal mined within the state. The advantage has eroded. The remaining coal fleet is old and requires continual environmental and maintenance capital, some units have been kept running on regulatory rather than economic grounds, and the fuel itself is no longer cheap relative to gas.
The state has also lost population and industrial load. When a utility's fixed costs stay constant while the customer base shrinks, the per-customer share rises. It is a slow, structural pressure that no single rate case explains.
West Virginia sits in PJM, so it also absorbed a share of the regional capacity increase, though less dramatically than the import-dependent states to its east.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, West Virginia households used 1,064 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $165. At the state median wage that is about 7.9 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas and a heat pump cost about the same to run here.
Work and pay
The median West Virginia worker earned $43,320 in 2024, 12.5% below the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining | 57.62× | $73,260 |
| Continuous Mining Machine Operators | 12.99× | $75,700 |
| Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers | 12.01× | $21,180 |
| Wellhead Pumpers | 9.29× | $48,780 |
| Legislators | 6.21× | $46,990 |
Property tax
The median West Virginia homeowner pays $835 a year on a home worth $155,600, an effective rate of 0.54% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 55 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in West Virginia run at 89.5 where the national average is 100, ranking it #43 of 51. Goods sit at 96.5, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 54.2, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $43,320 therefore buys what $48,402 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (108.9) , Winchester (96.5) , Hagerstown-Martinsburg (94.2) , Morgantown (93.3) , Weirton-Steubenville (89.0) .
Housing
House prices in West Virginia rose 5.7% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +69.6%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Who supplies the power
5 utilities report residential service in West Virginia, together serving 856,671 customers. Regulated monopoly.
West Virginia: common questions
What does it cost to live in West Virginia?
Prices overall run at 89.5 against a national average of 100, with rents at 54.2. The typical home is worth $155,600 and carries $835 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.54% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $165 a month at 16.80¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $43,320.
What is the property tax rate in West Virginia?
The effective rate is 0.54% of home value, from a median bill of $835. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 55 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in West Virginia?
The median wage of $43,320 buys what $48,402 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line West Virginia falls on.
Is West Virginia expensive for electricity?
It ranks #23 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 16.80¢ per kilowatt-hour, -8.9% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 12 of 51, because households there use 1,064 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in West Virginia?
$43,320 across all occupations, about $20.83 an hour, covering 701,470 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in West Virginia?
5 utilities report residential service, the largest being Appalachian Power Co with 348,946 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources