About Doddridge County

Doddridge County is in the west central part of the state located about 25 miles west of Clarksburg and about 100 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1845 from parts of Harrison, Lewis, Ritchie, and Tyler counties. The county is named after Philip Doddridge) (1772-1832), a Virginia legislator and U.S. Congressman.

It is rural with a territory of 320 square miles and a population of 7,459 (2006 estimate). Its county seat and major town is West Union (pop. 806) located in the west central portion of the county. The county is drained by Middle Island Creek and its tributaries.

Major employment is in health care and social assistance, retail, finance, and accommodation and food service. Industry is very limited, but logging and lumbering stand out. Although the county is located in the oil and gas region, only a handful of residents are employed in this field. Agriculturally there is some notable production of eggs and raising of horses, but major products are livestock and forage. Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,403 people, 2,845 households, and 2,102 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile (9/kmē). There were 3,661 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/kmē). The racial makeup of the county was 98.31% White, 0.27% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 0.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,845 households out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.30% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.10% were non-families. 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 26.60% from 25 to 44, 25.10% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 101.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,744, and the median income for a family was $30,502. Males had a median income of $26,902 versus $20,250 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,507. About 15.30% of families and 19.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.00% of those under age 18 and 13.60% of those age 65 or over.

(Information from Wikipedia, Doddridge County)