| West Virginia is one of the most dangerous states to work in. Other states with active "natural resource extraction" (mining) industries share a similar fate:
Despite the clean air of our Wild, Wonderful state, many of us suffer from asthma.
Compared to the nation as a whole smoking in West Virginia doesn't look so bad.
This varies quite a bit by county.
Any hopes for reduced tobacco-related cancers go out the window when you consider smokeless tobacco use.
More good news: we're on the lower end of drinking-and-driving deaths, too.
Unfortunately, our roads are still among the most dangerous in the country.
Our suicide rates and teen birth rates are rather average for the country:
Here's a ranking West Virginia looks quite good at: there's very little violent crime. Rural low-density living is consistent with lower crime levels.
Over 70% of current West Virginia residents were born here--that's one of the highest percentages in the country.
We've also got the highest median age in the country.
By county, it looks like this:
Just a guess, the younger counties are probably the faster growing counties, too, with people moving here from out of state (?).
One final map. That link of health and poverty? We can see where the poorest parts of the state are with this map--at least in terms of who is eligible for government sponsored health care (a category that also picks up veterans and elderly, I would presume).
What do you think? Did you learn anything new from these maps? |
