The population in Virginia’s coalfield's region is dropping at an alarming rate, with Buchanan County down 51% from its peak in 1980, writes Jim Branscome at Cardinal News, which covers Southwest Virginia.
Virginia’s seven Central Appalachian coalfield counties
collectively lost 7,208 residents between 2020 and 2025, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau.
Buchanan County had the biggest five-year loss of them all
at 9.1%, among the worst in the entire 60-county Central Appalachian area,
Branscome adds.
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| Buchanan County had the largest five-year change in population of the seven Virginia coalfield counties. (Chart via Cardinal News, data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Click to enlarge) |
The two main factors working together to create the alarming trajectory for Virginia’s coalfields are people leaving the region and the number of deaths exceeding the birth rates, Branscome writes.
The median age in Buchanan County has almost doubled since
1980, from 26 to 47, Branscome reports. While the county is projected to lose 48% of its
current population by 2050, its current annual rate of decline
shows this loss occurring closer to the late 2030s, adds Branscome.
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