Calhoun County

Calhoun County, West Virginia — key demographics

Population

• Total population: 6,229 (2020 Decennial Census)

Age

• Median age: ~48 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: ~20%
• 65 and over: ~23%

Gender

• Male: ~50%
• Female: ~50%

Race and ethnicity (ACS 2019–2023; Hispanic can be of any race)

• White: ~98%
• Black or African American: ~0.3%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: ~0.2%
• Asian: ~0.1%
• Two or more races: ~1–2%
• Hispanic/Latino (any race): ~1%

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Number of households: ~2,600–2,700
• Average household size: ~2.3
• Family households: ~68%
• Married-couple families: ~50–52%
• Nonfamily households: ~32%
• Householder living alone age 65+: ~13–14%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census; American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates (DP05, DP02). Figures are estimates and subject to margins of error.

Calhoun County, WV (pop ~6.2k; ~22 people per sq. mile) is highly rural with hilly terrain that complicates last‑mile internet. Fixed broadband availability remains patchy, with many homes relying on DSL, fixed‑wireless, satellite, or smartphone‑only plans; public Wi‑Fi at libraries and schools is an important supplement. Ongoing state/federal programs (e.g., BEAD) are expanding fiber, but affordability pressures rose after the ACP wind‑down in 2024.

Estimated email users: 3,900–4,700 residents (central estimate ~4,300), based on roughly 70–80% internet adoption and 90–95% email use among internet users.

Approximate age mix of email users:

• 13–24: ~600
• 25–44: ~1,300
• 45–64: ~1,550
• 65+: ~860 Older adults participate less consistently than younger groups.

Gender: the county skews slightly female (~51%); email use is near parity by gender.

Trends: growth in smartphone‑centric email access; gradual increases in fiber along main corridors; persistent dead zones on remote roads/hollows; and usage spikes around schools, libraries, and community hubs. Overall email adoption is high among connected residents but constrained by sparse density and uneven connectivity.

Summary: Mobile phone usage in Calhoun County, WV

Quick take

• Calhoun County’s mobile adoption is meaningfully below West Virginia’s average, with more coverage gaps, more LTE-only service, and a higher reliance on prepaid and smartphone-only home internet. Its older age profile, very low population density, and limited backhaul/fiber keep usage and speeds below statewide norms despite similar interest in mobile-first connectivity.

User estimates (order-of-magnitude, based on population ≈6,000–6,500 and rural adoption patterns)

• Total unique mobile phone users (any mobile phone): ~4,500–4,900 people (≈72–78% of residents), vs statewide closer to ~85–90%.
• Adult smartphone users: ~3,700–4,100 (roughly 70–78% of adults), vs WV adults ~80–86%.
• Teen smartphone users (13–17): ~250–300; most teens with service have smartphones, but participation is constrained by coverage and cost.
• Smartphone-only home internet households: notably higher share than WV overall (likely ~20–30% locally vs ~15–20% statewide), driven by scarce cable/fiber. Offsetting factor: weak cellular signal in hollows limits practical smartphone-only use for some homes.

Demographic breakdown and patterns different from state-level

• Age: Calhoun has a larger 65+ share than WV overall. Senior smartphone adoption lags (roughly low-60s% locally vs upper-60s/low-70s% statewide). This significantly drags countywide smartphone penetration.
• Income: Median income is lower than WV’s average. Result: higher prepaid/Lifeline usage, slower device replacement cycles, more older LTE-only phones, and sensitivity to the ACP wind-down (disproportionate impact vs state).
• Education/households with children: School- and library-based hotspot lending plays a larger role than in more connected WV counties; families often rely on mobile hotspots for homework where wireline is unavailable.
• Race/ethnicity: The county is overwhelmingly White; disparities track more with income, age, and location (ridge/hollow) than with race.

Digital infrastructure and coverage (how it diverges from statewide experience)

• Coverage pattern: A small number of macro sites concentrate service around Grantsville, Arnoldsburg, and along primary corridors (US‑33/119, WV‑16). Long inter-site distances and rugged terrain create dead zones and weak indoor signal—more prevalent than typical WV averages.
• Technology mix: Connections are predominantly LTE; 5G is mostly low-band with limited or no mid-band capacity. Users see lower median speeds and more congestion at peak times than in WV’s metro/suburban areas.
• Carriers: Verizon and AT&T provide the most usable coverage; T‑Mobile’s footprint is spottier. Residents commonly use signal boosters or Wi‑Fi calling at home.
• Backhaul: Sparse fiber forces some towers onto microwave backhaul, constraining capacity. This is a bigger bottleneck here than in more built-out WV counties.
• Wireline interplay: Frontier/legacy DSL is common; cable is limited or absent in many areas; emerging fiber builds are uneven and ongoing. Where wireline is poor, households lean on mobile data—until terrain or tower load caps performance.
• Public safety and resilience: FirstNet (AT&T) improvements focus on corridors and public-safety sites, but redundancy remains thin; power and backhaul outages can take swaths offline longer than state averages.

Behavioral and market trends vs WV overall

• Higher reliance on prepaid, hotspot plans, and smartphone-only internet—tempered by signal issues that make usage inconsistent.
• Heavier use of voice, SMS, and offline media; video telehealth and high-bandwidth apps are adopted more slowly due to reliability limits.
• Device turnover is slower; more LTE-only and older Android/iPhone models remain in service post‑3G shutdown.
• Population decline and very low density reduce carrier ROI, slowing 5G mid-band and additional site deployments relative to the state’s urbanized counties.

Implications for planners

• The fastest gains will come from adding or upgrading a small number of macro sites with fiber backhaul on key corridors and filling shadowed hollows with small cells or repeaters.
• Pair mobile investments with last‑mile fiber where feasible; each enables the other (fibered towers lift mobile capacity; wireline reduces peak mobile congestion).
• Programs that offset device and plan costs (post‑ACP) will have outsized impact here compared to WV overall.

Social media snapshot: Calhoun County, WV (estimates, 2024–2025)

Population context

• Residents: ~6,000–6,200; adults (18+): ~4,700–4,900.
• Adult social media users: ~3,100–3,500 (about 65–72% of adults). Many are mobile-only due to below-average home broadband.

Most-used platforms among adults (share of adults using each; overlapping by design)

• YouTube: 70–80%
• Facebook: 65–75% (Messenger ~60–70%)
• Instagram: 25–35%
• TikTok: 25–35%
• Snapchat: 15–25% (heavily 13–29)
• Pinterest: 20–30% (skews female)
• X/Twitter: 10–15%
• Reddit: 8–12%
• LinkedIn: 8–12% (lower than national average)

Age patterns

• Teens (13–17): Very high on YouTube; 60–70% on TikTok/Snapchat; 50–60% on Instagram; Facebook mainly for family/groups.
• 18–29: YouTube 90%+; Instagram/TikTok 60–75%; Snapchat ~50–60%; Facebook ~50–60% for groups/Marketplace.
• 30–49: Facebook 75–85% and YouTube 80–90% dominate; Instagram/TikTok 30–45%.
• 50–64: Facebook 70–80%; YouTube 60–75%; Pinterest 25–35%.
• 65+: Facebook 50–60%; YouTube 40–55%; limited use of others.

Gender breakdown

• Overall users: Slight female majority (roughly 52–55% women, 45–48% men).
• Skews by platform:
  • More women: Facebook Groups, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok (slight).
  • More men: YouTube, Reddit, X/Twitter.
  • Snapchat balanced but younger.

Behavioral trends

• Community-first: Heavy use of Facebook Groups for school closings, local news, obituaries, church events, volunteer drives, yard sales/lost-and-found.
• Marketplace economy: Facebook Marketplace and “buy/sell/trade” groups drive local commerce (vehicles, tools, furniture).
• Local news and alerts: Reliance on regional TV/press pages; weather, power outages, road conditions; high comment activity on local issues.
• Sports and events: High engagement with high school sports, fairs, and youth activities; event posts outperform ads.
• Messaging over posting: Many prefer private Messenger chats and closed groups; public posting more common among businesses/community orgs.
• Video habits: YouTube is the primary video platform; TikTok short-form viewing rising among under-40s; live streams used for games/meetings when connectivity allows.
• Access constraints: Lower home broadband means mobile-friendly, short videos and image posts perform best; evening and early-morning usage spikes are common.

Notes and method

• County-level social platform stats aren’t published; figures are inferred from Pew Research Center’s 2023–2024 U.S. usage by age/region, applied to Calhoun’s size and rural WV adoption patterns (ACS/Census). Treat numbers as directional estimates rather than precise counts.