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Raleigh County Local Demographic Profile

Key demographics — Raleigh County, West Virginia

Population size

2023 estimate: ~72,700
2020 Census: 74,591 (down from 78,859 in 2010)

Age

Median age: ~42 years
Under 18: ~21%
18 to 64: ~58%
65 and over: ~21%

Gender

Female: ~51%
Male: ~49%

Racial/ethnic composition

White alone: ~85%
Black or African American alone: ~9–10%
Two or more races: ~3–4%
Asian: ~0.6–0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native: ~0.2–0.3%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~2%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: ~83–84%

Household data

Households: ~29,500–30,000
Persons per household (avg): ~2.3
Family households: ~60–62% of households
Married-couple households: ~44–46% of households
Nonfamily households: ~38–40%
Householder living alone: ~31–33%; about 11–13% age 65+

Insights

Population has been declining since 2010 and is older than the U.S. overall, with about one in five residents age 65+.
The county is predominantly non-Hispanic White with a notable Black population centered around Beckley; Hispanic/Latino share remains small but growing slowly.
Smaller household sizes and a high share of nonfamily and single-person households reflect aging and slower household formation.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2019–2023 American Community Survey/QuickFacts). Estimates rounded for clarity.

Email Usage in Raleigh County

Local profile: Raleigh County, WV has about 74,600 residents across 608 sq mi (≈123 people/sq mi). Beckley and the I‑64/77 corridor have cable and growing fiber; rural hollows lean on DSL and fixed‑wireless.
Digital access: ≈83% of households have an internet subscription; ≈78–80% have broadband (cable/DSL/fiber/fixed wireless); ≈10–12% have no home internet. Smartphone ownership is high among adults, making mobile the primary email access; fiber builds since 2022 are boosting median speeds in and around Beckley.
Estimated email users: ≈60,000 residents (≈80–85% of the population), reflecting ~92% email adoption among adults and strong teen uptake.
Age distribution of email users (share of users): 13–17 ≈7%; 18–29 ≈17%; 30–49 ≈31%; 50–64 ≈23%; 65+ ≈22% (slightly lower adoption but rising among seniors).
Gender split among users: ≈51% female, 49% male, mirroring county demographics; usage intensity is similar for men and women.
Insights: Email is near‑ubiquitous among working‑age adults for work, schooling, and services. The remaining gap concentrates in lower‑income and more remote areas with weaker last‑mile options; ongoing fiber and fixed‑wireless expansion is narrowing these pockets and should lift senior and rural adoption further.

Mobile Phone Usage in Raleigh County

Raleigh County, WV — mobile usage snapshot (latest available estimates, rounded)

Scale and users

Population: ~73,000; households: ~30,000.
Mobile phone users (people with an active mobile line): 61,000 (≈83% of residents), slightly higher than the statewide average (80%).
Active mobile devices/lines in service (including secondary lines, tablets, hotspots, and IoT): ~80,000–82,000, reflecting roughly 1.1 lines per resident.
Households with a smartphone: ~89% in Raleigh County vs ~87% statewide; ~27,000 local households own at least one smartphone.
Households with no internet at home: ~12% in Raleigh County vs ~15% statewide; non-adoption is lower locally than in much of West Virginia.

How residents connect (distinct from statewide patterns)

Wireless-only households (no landline voice): ~68% in Raleigh County vs ~65% statewide. The county’s urban core (Beckley and nearby communities) pushes wireless substitution slightly above the state norm.
Smartphone-only internet households (smartphone but no computer at home): ~10% locally vs ~8% statewide. Cost sensitivity and good mobile coverage in and around Beckley increase mobile-reliant households more than the state average.
Home broadband mix: Higher share of cable and fiber connections than the WV average and a lower reliance on satellite/DSL, due to better last‑mile options along the I‑64/I‑77 corridors and within the Beckley metro area.

Demographic breakdown of smartphone ownership and reliance

By age
- 18–34: ~97% own a smartphone; heavier use of unlimited data plans and app‑centric services than the state average.
- 35–64: ~92%.
- 65+: ~78% (notably higher than the statewide level for seniors), aided by concentrated retail, healthcare, and family support in Beckley.
By income
- <$25k household income: ~86% own a smartphone; ~15–17% are smartphone‑only for home internet (above county average).
- $25k–$75k: ~92–94% own a smartphone.
- $75k: ~98% own a smartphone; much lower smartphone‑only reliance.
By education
- HS or less: ~87% smartphone ownership; higher mobile‑only internet reliance.
- Some college or higher: ~95% smartphone ownership.
Urban vs rural within the county
- Beckley/Beaver/Shady Spring/Mabscott/MacArthur: higher 5G availability, higher smartphone adoption, more wireless‑only households.
- Outlying hollows and western/southern ridges: lower signal quality and more LTE‑only pockets; higher prevalence of multiple carriers per household for coverage redundancy.

Digital infrastructure and performance

Carrier footprint: AT&T, T‑Mobile, and Verizon provide countywide 4G LTE coverage with 5G clustered in and around Beckley and along I‑64/I‑77. 5G coverage is materially better than the WV average in urbanized parts of the county but remains intermittent in terrain‑shadowed valleys.
Performance (typical outdoor experience)
- 5G areas (Beckley core, retail corridors, interstate exits): ~50–200+ Mbps down; 10–30 Mbps up; low‑to‑moderate latency.
- LTE‑only pockets (valleys/ridges): ~5–25 Mbps down; 2–8 Mbps up; higher latency and congestion at peak times.
Backhaul and fiber
- Robust fiber backhaul along interstate and state highway corridors and to anchor institutions (hospitals, schools, government sites) supports denser 4G/5G nodes than is typical in rural WV.
- Cable and expanding fiber plant reduce dependence on satellite/DSL versus the state overall, indirectly supporting stronger mobile performance via better backhaul.
Coverage constraints
- Mountainous terrain creates shadowing and localized dead zones; carriers mitigate with targeted small cells and sectorization in the Beckley area. Redundancy across carriers is a common household strategy outside the core.

Trends that differ from the West Virginia statewide picture

Higher smartphone adoption and lower offline household share than the state average, driven by the Beckley urban hub and major transport corridors.
Greater reliance on smartphones as the sole home internet solution than statewide, reflecting both affordability pressures and adequate mobile performance in the urban/suburban parts of the county.
Better 5G availability and capacity within the county’s population centers than in many WV counties; more pronounced urban‑rural performance gap inside the county than the statewide average.
Slightly higher wireless‑only voice substitution and lower use of satellite internet than the WV norm, due to stronger cable/fiber presence and more competitive mobile retail options.

Key takeaways

Raleigh County over‑indexes on mobile adoption and 5G access compared with the WV average, especially in and around Beckley.
A meaningful minority—about 1 in 10 households—relies on smartphones as their only home internet, underscoring the importance of mobile network capacity and affordability programs.
Terrain remains the primary obstacle to uniform coverage; the largest deltas in user experience are between the Beckley metro area and the county’s ridge/valley communities rather than between Raleigh County and the state as a whole.

Social Media Trends in Raleigh County

Raleigh County, WV — Social media usage snapshot (2024)

Raleigh County

Raleigh County Local Demographic Profile

Email Usage in Raleigh County

Mobile Phone Usage in Raleigh County

Social Media Trends in Raleigh County

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