Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861, Census ACS, DOE LEAD, FEMA National Risk Index, OpenFEMA NFIP · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Counties in West Virginia ranked

7.0%of income goes to home energy in McDowell County, the highest of 55 West Virginia counties

Monongalia County is lowest at 1.7%, a gap of 4.1 times. The median West Virginia county sits at 3.4%, against 3.3% for the median U.S. county. Source for West Virginia: DOE LEAD 2022.

West Virginia county map

West Virginia counties, shaded by quintile of the selected measureWebster County: 5.1%Taylor County: 3.1%Harrison County: 2.4%Upshur County: 3.2%McDowell County: 7.0%Monongalia County: 1.7%Lincoln County: 4.4%Pleasants County: 2.0%Clay County: 3.8%Fayette County: 4.6%Mercer County: 4.4%Greenbrier County: 4.1%Nicholas County: 3.6%Roane County: 3.6%Ritchie County: 2.5%Barbour County: 4.1%Mason County: 3.9%Wetzel County: 3.5%Ohio County: 3.2%Hampshire County: 3.4%Randolph County: 3.2%Summers County: 4.9%Pendleton County: 3.9%Berkeley County: 2.3%Doddridge County: 2.4%Monroe County: 4.6%Lewis County: 2.7%Hardy County: 3.4%Wirt County: 3.0%Grant County: 3.7%Braxton County: 3.4%Boone County: 3.8%Jackson County: 3.1%Logan County: 4.6%Putnam County: 2.9%Raleigh County: 4.0%Wayne County: 3.8%Calhoun County: 2.5%Mineral County: 2.9%Tyler County: 2.4%Gilmer County: 2.6%Tucker County: 3.0%Marion County: 2.3%Cabell County: 3.2%Hancock County: 3.1%Marshall County: 3.6%Mingo County: 5.2%Morgan County: 3.0%Wood County: 2.3%Kanawha County: 3.2%Preston County: 3.5%Jefferson County: 2.0%Brooke County: 3.3%Pocahontas County: 4.9%Wyoming County: 4.9%
  • 1.7% to 2.6%
  • 2.6% to 3.2%
  • 3.2% to 3.6%
  • 3.6% to 4.4%
  • 4.4% to 7.0%

West Virginia counties, darker = higher. Click one for its page.

Highest energy burden in West Virginia

McDowell County leads West Virginia on burden at 7.0% of income and Mingo County follows at 5.2%. For lower-income homes the top is McDowell County: 18.3% of income, against 11.8% in the median West Virginia county.

home energy burden, % of income, top 10 West Virginia counties

  • McDowell County7.0
  • Mingo County5.2
  • Webster County5.1
  • Wyoming County4.9
  • Pocahontas County4.9
  • Summers County4.9
  • Monroe County4.6
  • Logan County4.6
  • Fayette County4.6
  • Lincoln County4.4
  • West Virginia median county3.4
West Virginia counties with the lowest home energy burden
Lowest burden in West VirginiaShare of income (WV)Residents (WV)
Monongalia County1.7%106,520
Jefferson County2.0%58,546
Pleasants County2.0%7,572
Berkeley County2.3%126,165
Marion County2.3%56,042

Storm reports and FEMA risk in West Virginia

NOAA logged 130 damaging-wind, tornado, tropical, ice, winter and heat reports in Tucker County from 2015 to 2025, 1,941 for every 100,000 residents: the most in West Virginia. FEMA scores Kanawha County highest at 94.5 (relatively high). In West Virginia these are weather reports and an index, not outage counts.

West Virginia top 5: Storm reports per 100,000 residents
Top 5 in West Virginiareports 2015-2025 (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
Tucker County1,9416,6981st
Pendleton County1,8166,1112nd
Grant County1,47610,9723rd
Webster County1,3218,2534th
Pocahontas County1,2867,8555th
West Virginia top 5: FEMA risk score
Top 5 in West Virginiascore 0-100 (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
Kanawha County94.5178,1981st
Cabell County85.493,3002nd
Wood County79.883,8293rd
Wayne County79.838,4984th
Logan County79.231,8265th

Flood claims and flood insurance in West Virginia

Greenbrier County has the most NFIP flood claims per 1,000 homes in West Virginia: 19.2 from 2015 to 2025, against 2.6 in the median West Virginia county. McDowell County has the highest share of homes with flood insurance (4.6%, median county 0.9%). Claims are a record of insured losses, not outage counts.

West Virginia top 5: Flood claims per 1,000 homes
Top 5 in West Virginiaclaims 2015-2025 (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
Greenbrier County19.232,6881st
Webster County13.78,2532nd
Summers County13.611,8333rd
Ohio County13.441,9044th
Mingo County13.322,9795th
West Virginia top 5: Flood insurance penetration
Top 5 in West Virginia% of homes insured (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
McDowell County4.6%18,4131st
Mingo County3.9%22,9792nd
Ohio County3.4%41,9043rd
Wyoming County2.9%20,9484th
Logan County2.4%31,8265th

FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP, as of 8 Sep 2026. Flood claims by county.

Outliers: West Virginia counties far from the state median

10 county-measure pairs sit 3 or more scaled median-absolute-deviation units from the West Virginia median. Most extreme: McDowell County, share of homes with flood insurance 4.6% against a median of 0.9%.

West Virginia outliers by deviation from the state median
CountyMeasureValueWest Virginia medianDeviations
McDowell CountyFlood insurance penetration4.6%0.9%+7.8
Greenbrier CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes19.22.6+6.6
Mingo CountyFlood insurance penetration3.9%0.9%+6.3
Ohio CountyFlood insurance penetration3.4%0.9%+5.3
Tucker CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents1,941453+5.1
McDowell CountyHome energy burden7.0%3.4%+4.7
Pendleton CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents1,816453+4.7
Webster CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes13.72.6+4.4
Wyoming CountyFlood insurance penetration2.9%0.9%+4.3
Summers CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes13.62.6+4.3

Old homes, electric heat and utilities in West Virginia

Hancock County has the oldest stock: 81% of homes date from before 1980. Electric heat is most common in Mingo County at 75% of homes, and Clay County lists 3 utilities, the most in West Virginia.

West Virginia top 5: Homes built before 1980
Top 5 in West Virginia% of homes (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
Hancock County81%28,6581st
Ohio County77%41,9042nd
Brooke County76%22,0533rd
Marshall County75%30,1294th
McDowell County74%18,4135th
West Virginia top 5: Homes heated by electricity
Top 5 in West Virginia% of homes (WV)Residents (WV)Rank (WV)
Mingo County75%22,9791st
Berkeley County75%126,1652nd
Jefferson County74%58,5463rd
Logan County68%31,8264th
Mercer County68%59,0625th

Find your West Virginia county

  • Pick a West Virginia county to see its ranks.

All 55 West Virginia counties, sortable

55 West Virginia counties, all measures
Barbour County15,4544.1%11.3%56924.059%31%1no data0.6%88
Berkeley County126,1652.3%8.9%12268.329%75%10.60.3%154
Boone County21,3123.8%13.8%70969.460%52%12.61.5%151
Braxton County12,3453.4%8.8%59136.255%33%11.30.5%73
Brooke County22,0533.3%11.5%23654.276%29%24.01.0%52
Cabell County93,3003.2%11.9%10485.467%49%16.00.9%97
Calhoun County6,1582.5%7.9%79616.858%18%11.51.0%49
Clay County7,9463.8%12.0%96922.344%38%311.71.3%77
Doddridge County7,7672.4%10.1%78514.458%12%11.70.9%61
Fayette County39,9874.6%15.8%30853.463%49%13.20.6%123
Gilmer County7,3762.6%7.9%92211.561%20%1no data1.3%68
Grant County10,9723.7%11.7%1,47633.250%50%20.90.5%162
Greenbrier County32,6884.1%12.5%52675.855%55%219.21.4%172
Hampshire County23,3403.4%12.2%63038.036%50%10.70.8%147
Hancock County28,6583.1%11.2%22340.781%22%11.10.6%64
Hardy County14,2363.4%9.8%80142.543%46%1no data0.6%114
Harrison County65,4072.4%9.2%23273.669%16%11.00.6%152
Jackson County27,7533.1%12.1%27756.546%55%21.70.7%77
Jefferson County58,5462.0%9.8%25647.838%74%10.90.8%150
Kanawha County178,1983.2%12.4%17994.570%45%28.11.5%319
Lewis County16,8082.7%9.4%48843.756%27%11.20.8%82
Lincoln County20,1704.4%14.5%45159.745%56%16.90.9%91
Logan County31,8264.6%14.3%28979.247%68%17.52.4%92
Marion County56,0422.3%8.5%15771.570%26%12.60.6%88
Marshall County30,1293.6%14.4%18656.875%34%15.10.8%56
Mason County25,2143.9%14.6%38157.455%65%10.90.6%96
McDowell County18,4137.0%18.3%51176.774%66%17.84.6%94
Mercer County59,0624.4%12.5%13465.261%68%11.40.8%79
Mineral County26,9222.9%13.3%56552.858%48%20.60.9%152
Mingo County22,9795.2%16.1%39272.647%75%113.33.9%90
Monongalia County106,5201.7%7.2%16371.542%40%11.00.3%174
Monroe County12,4014.6%16.5%45228.354%53%22.70.3%56
Morgan County17,3273.0%11.7%64130.444%62%11.41.0%111
Nicholas County24,4463.6%11.4%38958.251%46%26.70.6%95
Ohio County41,9043.2%11.8%20569.877%28%113.43.4%86
Pendleton County6,1113.9%13.0%1,81630.153%30%2no data1.0%111
Pleasants County7,5722.0%8.0%54120.357%18%1no data0.8%41
Pocahontas County7,8554.9%13.9%1,28627.545%35%12.92.0%101
Preston County34,2043.5%14.4%55833.847%28%10.60.4%191
Putnam County57,2502.9%12.4%33774.037%60%13.61.2%193
Raleigh County73,6664.0%14.7%20965.559%57%20.90.3%154
Randolph County27,7823.2%10.3%41457.158%36%13.21.1%115
Ritchie County8,3722.5%8.5%1,27816.159%12%1no data0.4%107
Roane County13,9213.6%10.2%60345.058%25%24.51.3%84
Summers County11,8334.9%13.5%55840.260%44%213.61.2%66
Taylor County16,5433.1%10.7%45323.552%25%11.20.5%75
Tucker County6,6983.0%10.8%1,94112.644%20%1no data1.7%130
Tyler County8,1812.4%10.5%83135.668%15%1no data0.6%68
Upshur County23,7583.2%10.4%58144.852%34%10.81.0%138
Wayne County38,4983.8%13.8%30979.859%44%13.41.0%119
Webster County8,2535.1%15.8%1,32135.359%39%113.71.4%109
Wetzel County14,2333.5%12.2%41556.974%19%26.11.6%59
Wirt County5,1313.0%9.8%9949.043%30%1no data0.5%51
Wood County83,8292.3%8.2%17479.867%21%12.50.6%146
Wyoming County20,9484.9%14.4%28667.460%66%25.92.9%60

Download CSV, 55 rows

West Virginia: click a header to sort. Per-capita storm rates start at 5,000 residents.

Sources

West Virginia sources with periods and retrieval dates
SourcePeriodRetrieved
DOE LEAD (WV)20222 Oct 2026
FEMA NRI (WV)Dec 20252 Oct 2026
NOAA Storm Events (WV)2015 to 20252 Oct 2026
Census ACS (WV)2019 to 20232 Oct 2026
EIA-861 (WV)20241 Oct 2026

West Virginia LEAD figures are group estimates, not bills. Methodology.

Keep going

Other states: Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas.

Questions

Which West Virginia county has the highest home energy burden?

McDowell County: 7.0% of income, against 3.4% for the median West Virginia county (DOE LEAD 2022).

Which West Virginia county has the lowest energy burden?

Monongalia County at 1.7% of income.

How does West Virginia compare with the whole country?

The median West Virginia county has a burden of 3.4% and the median U.S. county 3.3%, across 55 West Virginia counties and 3,053 U.S. counties with data.

Where do storms cause the most trouble in West Virginia?

Tucker County has the most NOAA storm reports per 100,000 residents: 1,941 between 2015 and 2025.

Which West Virginia county has the highest FEMA risk score?

Kanawha County: 94.5, rated relatively high by FEMA (Dec 2025).

Where are the oldest homes in West Virginia?

Hancock County: 81% of homes were built before 1980; the median West Virginia county is at 58% (Census ACS 2023).

Which West Virginia county relies most on electric heat?

Mingo County: 75% of homes heat with electricity, against 39% in the median county.

Which West Virginia county has the most flood claims per home?

Greenbrier County: 19.2 NFIP claims per 1,000 homes from 2015 to 2025; the median West Virginia county has 2.6 (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Are storm reports the same as power outages in West Virginia?

No: in West Virginia they are weather reports, not outage counts.

Where can West Virginia households get help with bills?

See the West Virginia help page. Highest burden: McDowell County.

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7.0% of income goes to home energy in McDowell County, the highest of 55 West Virginia counties