West Virginia

HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY STRUCTURE

A household is defined as one or more people living in a residence. A family is more than one person living together, either married or of the same bloodline. The head of a household is one of the people who owns or rents the residence and was indicated first on the Census questionnaire.

The tendency for people to marry at an older age and the number of married people getting divorced may have contributed to the overall drop in married couples. Also, it may more culturally acceptable for people to not get married at all or to have non-traditional relationships.

Household Types, 1990-2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Households 688,557 100.00% 736,481 100.00%
Married Couple 406,105 58.98% 397,499 53.97%
With Children* 186,751 27.12% 156,927 21.31%
Without Children* 219,354 31.86% 240,572 32.67%
Female Householder, no spouse 73,527 10.68% 79,120 10.74%
With Children* 38,138 5.54% 42,304 5.74%
Without Children* 35,389 5.14% 36,816 5.00%
Male Householder, no spouse 20,627 3.00% 27,436 3.73%
With Children* 9,199 1.34% 13,841 1.88%
Without Children* 11,428 1.66% 13,595 1.85%
Non-Family Households 188,298 27.35% 232,426 31.56%
Living Alone 168,735 24.51% 199,587 27.10%
Two or More Persons 19,563 2.84% 32,839 4.46%

*In this table, children are people under age 18.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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