Charleston metropolitan area, West Virginia

The Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in West Virginia, anchored by the city of Charleston. It is the largest metropolitan area entirely within the state of West Virginia. The Huntington Metro Area adds to the Charleston–Huntington, WV-OH-KY CSA and spans three states (West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio), while the core county of the Charleston area, Kanawha County, is more populous than the West Virginia portion of the Huntington area.

Charleston Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY
West Virginia State Capitol
Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY CSA   Charleston, WV MSA   Huntington–Ashland, WV–KY–OH MSA   Portsmouth, OH µSA   City of Charleston   City of Huntington   City of Ashland
Country	United States
State	West Virginia Kentucky Ohio
Largest city	Charleston
Other cities	- Huntington  - Ashland  - Portsmouth  - Ironton  - South Charleston  - St. Albans  - Dunbar
Area
• Total	2,159.9 sq mi (5,594 km2)
Highest elevation	Kelly Knob[1]1,512 ft (461 m)
Lowest elevation	Ohio River[2]485 ft (148 m)
Population  (2015 est.)
• Total	361,580
• Rank	146th in the U.S.
• Density	167.4/sq mi (64.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)

Charleston is its largest and most populous city in the MSA. Cross Lanes is its most populous census-designated place.^[3] As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 309,635 (though new standards set on February 28, 2013 placed the population at 240,000).^[4] Prior to the 2000 Census, the Charleston MSA consisted of only two counties – Kanawha and Putnam (the latter of which is now considered part of the Huntington metropolitan area).

Rankings

The population of the Charleston MSA is ranked 151st out of the 363 MSA's.

• The Charleston–Huntington, WV-OH-KY CSA is the 81st largest in the US.
• The Charleston-Huntington TV Market is ranked 64th out of 210.
• The Charleston MSA is ranked 181st out of the 297 Arbitron radio markets.
• Out of 280 Metropolitan statistical areas ranked by per capita income, the Charleston MSA is ranked 106th. (Census 2000)
• The MSA is 202 out of 280 ranked by median household income. (Census 2000)

Counties

In order of population:

Charleston Metropolitan Area

County	2021 Estimate	2020 Census	Change
Kanawha County	177,952	180,745	−1.55%
Jackson County	27,738	27,791	−0.19%
Boone County	21,312	21,809	−2.28%
Lincoln County	20,126	20,463	−1.65%
Clay County	7,892	8,051	−1.97%
Total	255,020	258,859	−1.48%

Cities, towns, and other communities

Places with more than 45,000 inhabitants

• Charleston (Principal City)

Places with 5,000 to 15,000 inhabitants

• Cross Lanes (census-designated place)
• Dunbar
• Nitro (partial)
• South Charleston
• St. Albans

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

• Alum Creek (census-designated place)
• Belle
• Chesapeake
• Clendenin
• Coal Fork (census-designated place)
• Culloden (census-designated place; partial)
• Elkview (census-designated place)
• Madison
• Marmet
• Montgomery (partial)
• Pinch (census-designated place)
• Sissonville (census-designated place)
• Upper Falls (census-designated place)

Places with less than 1,000 inhabitants

• Cedar Grove
• Clay
• Danville
• East Bank
• Glasgow
• Handley
• Jefferson
• Pratt
• Smithers (partial)
• Sylvester
• Whitesville

Unincorporated places

Adonijah Ashford Bandytown Barrett Big Chimney Bim Bob White Bream Crede Dille Elk Forest Emmons Floe Foch Hillsdale Independence Institute

Julian Little Italy Mink Shoals Nellis O'Brion Porter Racine Rand Swandale Uneeda Valley Fork Van Washington Heights Wharton Whetstone Widen

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 309,635 people, 129,229 households, and 88,175 families residing within the MSA. New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 363,000.^[6] The racial makeup of the MSA was 93.25% White, 4.66% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.55% of the population.

The median income for a household in the MSA was $29,222, and the median income for a family was $35,735. Males had a median income of $34,105 versus $20,448 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,074.

Highways

Interstates

• Interstate 77
• Interstate 79
• Interstate 64

U.S. Highways

• U.S. Route 60
• U.S. Route 119
• U.S. Route 35

Appalachian Corridors

• Corridor G

WV state highways

West Virginia Route 61 West Virginia Route 622 West Virginia Route 94 West Virginia Route 4 West Virginia Route 62 West Virginia Route 16 West Virginia Route 34 West Virginia Route 3 West Virginia Route 25	West Virginia Route 10 West Virginia Route 36 West Virginia Route 114 West Virginia Route 601 West Virginia Route 214 West Virginia Route 501 West Virginia Route 869 West Virginia Route 817

Colleges and universities

• University of Charleston
• West Virginia State University
• Marshall University Graduate College
• BridgeValley Community and Technical College
• WV Junior College

Combined Statistical Area

The Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY Combined Statistical Area consists of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Huntington–Ashland, WV–KY–OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the Portsmouth, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area. It spans 12 counties in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.^[7]

CBSA	2023 Population (est.)[8]	County	2023 Population (est.)	2020 Population	2010 Population	2000 Population	1950 Population	1900 Population
Huntington–Ashland, WV–KY–OH MSA	368,261	Cabell County, West Virginia	92,082	94,350	96,319	96,784	108,035	29,252
		Putnam County, West Virginia	56,962	57,440	55,486	51,589	21,021	17,330
		Lawrence County, Ohio	56,118	58,240	62,450	62,319	49,115	39,354
		Boyd County, Kentucky	47,826	48,261	49,542	49,752	49,949	18,834
		Wayne County, West Virginia	37,686	38,982	42,481	42,903	38,696	23,619
		Greenup County, Kentucky	35,221	35,962	36,910	36,891	24,887	15,432
		Carter County, Kentucky	26,366	26,627	27,720	26,889	22,559	20,228
		Lawrence County, Kentucky	16,000	16,293	15,860	15,569	14,418	19,612
Charleston, WV MSA	203,164	Kanawha County, West Virginia	174,805	180,745	193,063	200,073	239,629	54,696
		Boone County, West Virginia	20,576	21,809	24,629	25,535	33,173	8,194
		Clay County, West Virginia	7,783	8,051	9,386	10,330	14,961	8,248
Portsmouth, OH μSA	71,969	Scioto County, Ohio	71,969	74,008	79,499	79,195	82,910	40,981
Charleston–Huntington–Ashland, WV–OH–KY CSA	643,394