Charleston, WV Metro Area Immigration

Population

The Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population 1/ decreased from 263,963 in 1970 to 227,076 in 2010. That was a decrease of 14.0 percent.

The foreign-born (FB) population increased from 1,520 in 1970 to 2,705 in 2010. That was an increase of 78.0 percent. The foreign-born share changed from 0.6 percent to 1.2 percent.

The share of the overall population that was native-born (NB) decreased by 14.5 percent.

	Charleston MSA: Population  1960-2010

Sources of Population Change

The primary sources of population change are:

Natural Change [Births minus Deaths or B-D];
Net Domestic Migration [NDM - movement between states]; and
Net International Migration [NIM - movement into and out of the country].
There is also a residual "other" amount that isn't placed in one of those three categories.

The first chart below shows the three population change factors for three periods adjusted for annual average amounts. International migration (NIM) was the only factor adding population in all periods, although in the first period B-D was the primary factor adding population.

The second chart shows the same data but with an adjustment to reflect births to immigrants shifted to NIM. In it, the same relative importance of the factors influencing population change was maintained.

	Charleston MSA: Sources of Population Change 1990-2014 		Charleston: Sources of Population Change (Adjusted) 1990-2014

		B-D	NDM	 NIM						B-D	NDM	NIM	
	90-'99	76.8%   neg.    23.2%					90-'99	61.8%	 neg.	38.2%
	00-'09	 neg.   neg.	 all					00-'09	 neg.	 neg.	 all
	10-'14	 neg.   neg.	 all					10-'14	 neg.	 neg.	 all

1/ Boone, Clay, and Kanawha counties.

Links:

MSA Factsheets by state, and alphabetically.

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