Feasibility Study Company Independent Feasibility Analysis

West Virginia · Market Intelligence

West Virginia Feasibility Studies

More than $81 billion of private investment in two data center projects, NScale's and Starwood Digital Ventures', was announced in West Virginia on a single day, September 3, 2026, and a Division of Economic Development release the next day put what the state had secured in under a year at about $96 billion 1. Both are announcement totals, and no county is named in the NScale release 1. Census QuickFacts puts Monongalia County 2.1% above its April 2020 base in July 2025 and Fayette County 5.8% below it 23; the pair for the project's own county, not the state tally, is the demand figure in a West Virginia feasibility study, and a campus that has yet to break ground is a pipeline item in it, quoted with its release date, not a tenant.

Request a methodology briefing Read the eight county markets
$96B
Private investment the state reported secured in under a year, release of Sept. 4, 2026 1
$81B
Announced on Sept. 3, 2026 alone (more than), in two data center projects 1
1.77M
West Virginians on July 1, 2025, Census Vintage 2025 4
98.8%
Share of the state's firms that are small businesses, SBA Advocacy 2025 profile, 2022 data 5
The 2026 Investment Tally

One day of data center announcements, and eight county records that read differently.

Two projects carried the Governor's announcement of September 3, 2026, more than $81 billion of new private investment: NScale's first data center phase, projected at $69.2 billion with about 2 GW of capacity, and Starwood Digital Ventures' $12 billion campus in Mason County 1. A day later the Division of Economic Development's release put the private investment West Virginia had secured in less than one year at about $96 billion 1. Both figures are announcement totals, and the NScale release names no county 1.

The Census record moves on its own. Census QuickFacts puts West Virginia at 1,766,147 residents for July 1, 2025, with 1,793,759 as the April 1, 2020 estimates base, -1.5% 4. Of the counties on this page with a dated Census pair, two stand above their 2020 base: Berkeley, at 139,522 against 122,073 by a Herald-Dispatch column's account of the same vintage 6, and Monongalia, at 107,991 against 105,821 2. For the other six, QuickFacts gives changes from the April 2020 base of -4.6% in Kanawha, -3.4% in Cabell, -4.6% in Ohio County, -2.3% in Wood, -3.8% in Raleigh and -5.8% in Fayette 37891011.

A study in West Virginia therefore keeps two records apart. The announced campuses are statewide facts, set out in the next section. A hotel, clinic, store or apartment building away from those campuses is sized on its own county: the Census pair, the 2025 permit count, the American Community Survey's rent and, in Wood County, an employer list that gives headcounts. The market sections follow, the two counties above their base first.

Data Centers and Microgrids

HB 2014 moved certified data centers and microgrid districts out of local zoning in April 2025.

The Power Generation and Consumption Act of 2025, HB 2014, was signed on April 30, 2025 12. For certified microgrid districts and high-impact data centers it preempts local zoning and land-use authority, and it hands the host county 30% of the facility's property tax 12. It also lets a certified microgrid supply itself outside regulated utility service and sets up a grid stabilization and security fund 13. Public comment on the rules that put the certification program into effect closed in December 2025 14, and the act's Article 11-6N terminates on December 31, 2055 14.

The 2026 session, which adjourned on March 14, 2026, left the preemption in place: HB 4509, SB 658 and HB 5620, the bills that would have restored local control, were not enacted, while HB 4983 and HB 5168 passed as data center measures 15. County commissioners said, in West Virginia Watch's report of March 31, 2026, that the law sends a majority of data center tax revenue away from local governments 16. The same session passed HB 5381, the Comprehensive Energy Policy and Development Plan Act of 2026, which sets a baseload, production-first mandate and a state generation target for 2050 17.

What has been published about each campus differs. Starwood Digital Ventures' Mason County campus holds High Impact Data Center certification and is described at about 2.16 GW and about 1,500 jobs; NScale's first phase at about 4,375 construction jobs and 645 permanent ones 1. Berkeley County's Penzance campus, announced in February 2026, is covered in the Eastern Panhandle section.

For a lender the law changes the approval path of a campus, not the demand evidence for anything near it. An apartment, hotel or restaurant that expects a campus's construction crews quotes the release's own job estimate, its date and its word "about", and treats a campus that has not broken ground as a pipeline item rather than a tenant.

Eight Markets

Eight West Virginia markets, and the county behind each one's figures.

Each card names the county its figures come from; a section whose metro reaches past that county, or past West Virginia, says so and prints no figure for the larger area.

Two multi-state metros

Eastern Panhandle

Berkeley and Jefferson counties, read apart from the other states' parts of their two metro areas, with WVU Medicine building in both.

University county

Morgantown

Monongalia County, where WVU Medicine is the main builder; Preston, the metro's other county, has no dated record here.

Wood County list

Parkersburg

Wood County, the one market with a 2025 employer list that gives headcounts, and a hospital tower due in 2029.

Tri-state metro, West Virginia side

Huntington

Cabell County, read as the West Virginia side of a metro that reaches into Kentucky and Ohio.

Interstate 77

Beckley

Raleigh County, whose one dated lodging addition is a hotel at Exit 44 that opened in June 2025.

State capital

Charleston, West Virginia

Kanawha County, with an energy company's office building, a city capital plan and a boulevard project out to bid.

Ohio Valley, two-state metro

Wheeling

Ohio County, read without Belmont County, Ohio, where WVU Medicine is building a regional cancer center.

Park county

New River Gorge

Fayette County around the national park, where every short-term rental needs a yearly county health permit.

In the Census Bureau's 2025 delineation four of these markets sit in metros wholly inside the state: Charleston (Boone, Clay and Kanawha counties), Morgantown (Monongalia and Preston), Parkersburg-Vienna (Wirt and Wood) and Beckley, which pairs Raleigh with Fayette, the county this page reads in its own New River Gorge section 18. Huntington-Ashland, Wheeling, Hagerstown-Martinsburg and the Washington metro all cross a state line, so their sections print West Virginia county figures only and say which counties sit on the other side 18.

Eastern Panhandle

Berkeley and Jefferson counties: a growing county, a certified data center campus and a new impact fee.

West Virginia counties only. Berkeley shares the Hagerstown-Martinsburg metro with Morgan County and with Washington County, Maryland, and Jefferson belongs to the Washington metro; no figure for either metro is printed.

A Herald-Dispatch column working from the Vintage 2025 county estimates puts Berkeley County at 139,522 residents for July 1, 2025, from 122,073 in its 2020 base 6. Builders there took permits for 1,460 new private housing units in 2024, in the Building Permits Survey series on FRED; a 2025 count for the county was not found 19. The American Community Survey's 2020 to 2024 median gross rent in Berkeley was $1,233 20. No dated population estimate for Jefferson County was found; its median household income in the 2020 to 2024 ACS estimates was $98,806 20.

Berkeley's impact fees changed with a schedule revised on October 23, 2025 and in force from November 1, 2025: $5,362 for a single-family unit in the county and Hedgesville, $3,759 per multifamily unit and $4,013 per mobile home, and inside Martinsburg $3,690 single-family and $2,570 multifamily, with no mobile homes permitted 21. The single-family charge is made up of administration at $874, fire $1,300, law enforcement $372, parks $1,721 and schools $1,095 21. WV MetroNews reported $5,500 single-family on November 9, 2025, which differs from the revised schedule, and Martinsburg now asks for proof the fee is paid before it issues a building permit 22. The county's capital improvement plan of July 24, 2025 sets aside $5.5 million for land on Winchester Avenue in Inwood, starting in 2028 23. Jefferson County has charged impact fees for schools, law enforcement, parks and emergency medical services since 2003, revised its schedule on May 20, 2025 and added a schedule for age-restricted housing on February 1, 2026; its dollar amounts were not found 24.

Two data center sites sit in the Panhandle. Penzance's Bedington campus, in the Bedington and Falling Waters district along I-81 north of Martinsburg, was announced on February 26, 2026 at $4 billion on 548 acres, about 1.9 million square feet and up to 600 MW, with more than 1,000 construction jobs and at least 125 permanent ones; it was the state's first certified High Impact Intelligence Center, at the site entitlement stage with no end users named 25. Near Kearneysville, Berkeley County planners approved the concept plan for IB10 Martinsburg, a QTS complex, in March 2025: 300 acres across Berkeley and Jefferson, with two buildings on a 90-acre Berkeley parcel, Berkeley County to serve the first phase with water and sewer, and no investment figure published 26.

Hospitals are the other builders. WVU Health System's April 2025 program includes a $200 million patient tower at Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, taking beds from 190 to 316 when it opens in 2028, and a three-story, $60 million ambulatory expansion of Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson for late 2027 27. In Jefferson County, Randox announced a $13 million life sciences expansion with 100 jobs on September 3, 2026 28. The Berkeley County Development Authority's list of major employers, which gives no headcounts, names the board of education, the county commission, DSV, Macy's Corporate Services, Orgill, Quad/Graphics, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, WVU Medicine and Zimmerman Associates 29.

The Panhandle takes in more counties than these two; dated records were found for Berkeley and Jefferson only. Maryland's Washington County, the other side of Berkeley's metro, is read on our Maryland page with Maryland figures only, as this section keeps to West Virginia's 18.

Morgantown

Monongalia County: WVU Medicine's building program in a county above its 2020 base.

The Morgantown metro is Monongalia and Preston counties. The research reads Monongalia alone; the BLS payroll below covers both counties.

Monongalia County's July 1, 2025 estimate in QuickFacts is 107,991, with 105,821 as its April 2020 base, +2.1% 2. BLS put nonfarm payroll in the Morgantown metro at 74.6 thousand jobs in December 2025, a preliminary figure, with a twelve-month change of +0.8% 30. QuickFacts also carries a 2025 building permit total for the county that should be checked against the Census Building Permits Survey before a study relies on it 2.

Owner-occupied homes made up 57.9% of Monongalia's occupied housing in the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey, median gross rent stood at $987 2, and renters occupied 18,811 housing units in the same estimates 20.

WVU Medicine is the builder. On April 17, 2024 it approved the WVU Eye Institute outpatient facility with a 1,100-space garage at $233.5 million, subject to regulatory approval 31, and in April 2026 it approved an $18.5 million relocation of behavioral health outpatient services due in the third quarter of 2027 32. No dated hotel or short-term rental performance figure for Morgantown was found.

Parkersburg

Wood County: an employer list with headcounts, and a hospital the list does not carry.

The Parkersburg-Vienna metro is Wirt and Wood counties, both in West Virginia. Wood is the county the research reads, and the metro payroll below takes in Wirt as well.

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel's May 2025 employment roundup, drawing on Wood County's economic development office, lists Wood County Schools with 1,714 employees, the Washington Works complex of Chemours, DuPont and Kuraray with 1,522, Walmart with 633 employees, Wincore with 472 employees, Westbrook Health Services with 426 employees and WVU Parkersburg with 318 33. The list has no hospital on it, while WorkForce West Virginia names WVU Medicine's Camden Clark as the county's largest private employer without giving a headcount 33. A study that counts healthcare jobs in Wood County reconciles the two before it uses either.

In QuickFacts, Wood County stands at 82,385 people for July 1, 2025 and 84,300 for April 1, 2020 (-2.3%), with 87 permits issued in 2025 10. BLS put the Parkersburg-Vienna metro at 37.1 thousand nonfarm jobs in July 2026, a preliminary figure 34. The same table's 2020 to 2024 ACS columns give Wood County an owner-occupied share of 75.1% and a median gross rent of $822 10.

Camden Clark Medical Center is where the next large project sits. WVU Medicine approved a $135 million patient tower there on April 15, 2026, raising inpatient beds from 260 to 300, with completion in the second quarter of 2029 32. A medical office, lodging or housing project that leans on the tower dates its demand from that approval and that completion quarter.

Huntington

Cabell County on the West Virginia side of a three-state metro, with a steel mill commissioning in Mason County.

The Huntington-Ashland metro takes in Cabell, Putnam and Wayne counties in West Virginia, four Kentucky counties and Lawrence County, Ohio. This section reads West Virginia counties only, and the research reads Cabell.

Cabell County's Vintage 2025 pair is 91,183 for July 1, 2025 and 94,345 for the April 2020 base, a change of -3.4%; QuickFacts lists 71 permits for 2025 and a 2020 to 2024 median gross rent of $923 8. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Cabell's per capita personal income at $56,843 for 2024 35. Boyd, Carter, Greenup and Lawrence counties sit on the metro's Kentucky side and Lawrence County on its Ohio side, and none of their figures is used here 18.

The demand catalyst the record names for the region sits outside the metro. Nucor's sheet mill at Apple Grove, in Mason County, is a $4 billion project with 3 million tons a year of capacity and about 800 jobs at full operation, backed by a $350 million state commitment, in the company's 10-K for fiscal 2024 36. WV MetroNews reported on July 31, 2026 that the plant was about 85% complete in April 2026 and ran its first coil in June, with about 50% utilization expected by the end of 2027, all of them the company's own forward-looking statements; WV Route 2 north to Apple Grove is the supplier corridor 37. Housing or lodging in Cabell that expects the mill's workforce quotes those statements with their dates, since the mill sits in Mason County, not Cabell.

Putnam County, on the metro's West Virginia side, has its own dated industrial record: on May 13, 2026 Sandvik and Alpha Metallurgical Resources announced a 100,000-square-foot facility at the Waterways Industrial Park, a $25 million investment with 120 jobs 38. At I-64 Exit 8, a $12 million welcome center was requested as federal Community Project Funding for fiscal 2022 39. Marshall University anchors the city, but its enrollment was not found.

Beckley

Raleigh County on I-77, where a new hotel opened at Exit 44 in June 2025.

The Census delineation puts Raleigh and Fayette counties in the Beckley metro; the research reads Raleigh here and says Fayette, read in the New River Gorge section, has no metro.

Raleigh County's population was 71,775 at July 1, 2025 and 74,590 at the April 2020 base, -3.8% by QuickFacts, which also shows 50 permits in 2025 11. Its 2020 to 2024 ACS columns show a labor force participation rate of 47.8% and median gross rent of $902 11. A twelve-month payroll change for the Beckley metro was not found, and neither was a large project announcement for the county in 2025 or 2026.

The only dated lodging addition found for Raleigh County is the 95-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott at I-77 Exit 44, which held its opening in June 2025 40. Occupancy, rate and pipeline for the county's hotels were not found, so a lodging project in Beckley counts competing rooms itself and dates that count after the June 2025 opening.

Charleston, West Virginia

Kanawha County: an office move, a grocery anchor and a capital city bidding out its boulevard.

Charleston, West Virginia, not the South Carolina city. Its metro is Boone, Clay and Kanawha counties; the research reads Kanawha, and the payroll figures below are the three-county metro's.

Kanawha County had 172,381 residents on July 1, 2025 by QuickFacts, set against 180,733 at the April 2020 base, -4.6%; the county's 2025 permit count is 97 permits, and its 2020 to 2024 median gross rent $906 7. Median household income in the 2020 to 2024 ACS was $60,943 20. BLS put the Charleston metro at 108.2 thousand nonfarm jobs in December 2025, seasonally adjusted, and at 104.4 thousand in February 2026, not seasonally adjusted and preliminary; the two readings use different adjustments, so they are not a change 41.

The Gazette-Mail's update of October 2025 lists TC Energy's $60 million, four-story office building on Kanawha Boulevard, 120,000 square feet, which moves about 450 existing employees from the former Columbia Gas building across the Kanawha River, relocating jobs rather than adding them, and was expected to finish in November 2026 42. The same update has a $40 million, 120,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace at Park Place in South Charleston, replacing the Riverwalk Plaza store and due to open in July 2026 42.

On January 5, 2026 the mayor said the city would seek control of Charleston Town Center and named 2026 capital priorities: a $20 million public safety center, $5 million for a firehouse and EMS station and $5 million of paving 43. The $26 million Capital Connector on Kanawha Boulevard, paid for by RAISE grants of $1.75 million for planning and $24.995 million for construction, went out to construction bid on October 8, 2026 44. At Thomas Hospitals, WVU Medicine approved $12.7 million of work in April 2026 32.

The city's hotel occupancy tax is 6%, with stays of 30 days or more and rooms billed directly to a government exempt, in its overview revised in 2024 45. Vacancy and rent series for the county's offices, shops and apartments were not found.

Wheeling

Ohio County, the West Virginia core of a two-state metro, and a cancer center on the old OVMC site.

West Virginia counties only. The Wheeling metro is Marshall and Ohio counties with Belmont County, Ohio; the research reads Ohio County, and no figure for the two-state metro is printed. Weirton-Steubenville, Brooke and Hancock counties with Jefferson County, Ohio, has no research row.

QuickFacts gives Ohio County 40,496 people in July 2025 and 42,446 at its April 2020 base, -4.6%, with 3 permits in 2025 9. Median gross rent in the county's 2020 to 2024 ACS reading was $821 9; per capita personal income in BEA's 2024 county accounts was $70,326 35. Belmont County, on the Ohio side of the metro, is outside every figure here 18.

WVU Medicine is the city's builder too. Its $122 million WVU Cancer Institute regional cancer center, four stories on the former Ohio Valley Medical Center site, was announced in April 2025 for completion in fall 2028 27.

Ohio County was one of the two counties in the July 2025 flood declaration set out under hazards.

New River Gorge

Fayette County: the park's county, with a yearly health permit for every short-term rental.

Fayette County, West Virginia, not the Kentucky county of the same name. The Census delineation places it in the Beckley metro with Raleigh; the research treats it as outside any metro.

Fayette County's estimate for July 1, 2025 is 38,165, from a base of 40,497 in April 2020, -5.8%, and 27 permits were issued there in 2025 3. From the 2020 to 2024 ACS, QuickFacts reports Fayette's labor force participation at 48.1%, median gross rent for renter-occupied units paying cash rent at $788, and $105,800 as the midpoint value of homes their owners live in 3. County Business Patterns counted 76 paid employees at the county's hotels and motels in the pay period of March 2023 46.

Lodging here is regulated house by house. The county health department requires an annual permit for every short-term rental under the state's General Sanitation Rule; it runs from January 1 to December 31, its fee is set by bedroom count, an inspection comes first, and a change of owner or a major remodel calls for a new application 47. In 2016 the Town of Fayetteville's council asked its planning and zoning body to draft a permit ordinance combining a state business licence with a town permit; whether it was adopted was not found 48.

Visitors to New River Gorge National Park and Preserve are the market, but the county's visitor counts, hotel results and rental performance were not found in a dated source. The published glamping case is set in this county outside Oak Hill; its market figures are its own, and this section prints Fayette County figures only.

Statewide Economy

Payroll months that point different ways, five plant headcounts and a state of small firms.

BLS's state table puts West Virginia's seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll at 718,900 in August 2025 and 717,100 in August 2026, the later figure preliminary, a change of -1,800 or -0.3% 49. Its chart package gives 718,800 for July 2025 and 720,200 for July 2026, a change of +1,400 or +0.2% 50. These are two month pairs, not one figure revised, and a study names the pair it quotes.

A list of the state's ten largest private employers with 2025 or 2026 headcounts was not found. WorkForce West Virginia ranks employers without headcounts, and the latest statewide ranking located, on March 2016 data, put WVU Medicine first, Wal-Mart second and Charleston Area Medical Center third 51. For manufacturers, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel's May 2025 roundup gives five plant headcounts: Toyota Motor Manufacturing at Buffalo 2,103, Pilgrim's at Bluefield 2,000, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems at Rocket Center 1,600, Constellium Rolled Products at Ravenswood 1,138 and Chemours at Washington 1,100 33. Chemours at Washington and the Washington Works entry in the Parkersburg section's Wood County list are counted on different scopes, one employer against a site of three companies.

The SBA Office of Advocacy's June 2025 profile, on 2022 data, counts 118,045 small businesses, 98.8% of West Virginia's firms, with 47.4% of its employees 5. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy reads the 2025 estimates as deaths outpacing births, with net domestic migration slightly positive 52; person counts for the migration components were not found.

Hazards

February and June floods in 2025, and a drought that opened SBA loans in November.

FEMA declared DR-4861 on February 26, 2025 for the February 15 to 18 storms and the flooding, landslides and mudslides that came with them in McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming counties 53; Logan and Wayne counties were added on March 10, 2025 54. DR-4884 followed on July 22, 2025 for the floods of June 14 and 15 in Marion and Ohio counties 55. Wayne County is part of the Huntington metro's West Virginia side, and Ohio County is Wheeling's.

Drought brought SBA economic injury disaster loans to West Virginia in November 2025: up to $2 million at 4% for small businesses and 3.625% for nonprofits, with applications due by May 26, 2026 56.

The National Risk Index's leading hazards for the state, its wind, seismic and wildfire exposure and any 2026 federal declaration were not found. Flooding with landslides is the hazard the dated federal record names for 2025.

Capital Access

WVEDA's loans and insurance, WVCAP's SSBCI funds and Huntington's 7(a) lead.

The West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the state's financing authority since 1962, runs a Direct Lending Program, an Equipment Loan Program, Commercial Loan Insurance on bank loans and a Broadband Loan Insurance Program 57. Its page gives each program's loan limits and insured share without a date, so a study takes the terms from the authority on the day it is written 57. The state's SSBCI money runs as WVCAP through the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust, with a seed capital co-investment fund, collateral support and subordinated debt, and WV Business Link reported on September 25, 2024 that the program ranked in the national top ten for putting its SSBCI funds to work 5859. SB 1, the first bill the Legislature completed in the 2026 session, provides for a Small Business Growth Program with no credit claimed until 2029 60.

Huntington National Bank's release of October 9, 2024 puts its fiscal 2024 West Virginia 7(a) lending at 100 loans for $19,681,700, against 14 loans for $9,183,000 at its nearest competitor 61. The same release gives the bank's Ohio count, which our Ohio page carries 61.

For 504, the House Small Business Committee heard on June 29, 2017 that Business Finance Group, a certified development company based in Fairfax, Virginia, covered the West Virginia panhandle counties from an office in Hedgesville 62. A fiscal 2025 ranking of the most active development companies in the state was not found.

SBA Rules

One SBA district office, in Clarksburg, covers every West Virginia county.

SBA's West Virginia District Office in Clarksburg serves the whole state 63, so the agency's loan-level files for West Virginia need no split by district: they hold 1,513 West Virginia 7(a) loans from the approval years FY2016 to FY2025, totalling $520.7 million in gross approvals once cancellations are taken out, with loan status as of June 30, 2026 64. State totals for FY2024 and FY2025 from SBA's year-end activity reports were not found in a readable form. Where a West Virginia lender wants a study on an SBA file, it points to 13 CFR 120.160(b): SBA may require professional appraisals, a survey, or a feasibility study 65, while SOP 50 10 8.1 with Technical Policy Updates 66 holds the program tests, which our SBA 7(a) and 504 practice page takes one at a time.

USDA and Other Programs

USDA Rural Development's last fiscal year in West Virginia, by its March 2026 release.

USDA Rural Development's release of March 12, 2026 credits its "last fiscal year" in West Virginia with $294 million of investment: $83 million across 28 community projects, $36 million across 31 economic development and agribusiness projects and $175 million for affordable housing 67. The release does not name the fiscal year. It names one Business and Industry guarantee, for the Eagle Summit East coal mining project through Stone Bank, with 75 jobs and no dollar amount published 67; fiscal 2025 totals were not found for the Business and Industry, Community Facilities or REAP programs. Our USDA Rural Development page explains how those guarantees and grants work.

Which HUD multifamily office processes West Virginia loans was not found, and no documented bond issue for a private project by a state authority was located; the Hospital Finance Authority Act is cited in the text of the 2025 Certificate of Need repeal bill 68. Bank and institutional credit outside the federal programs is covered on our conventional and institutional lending page.

Rules by Asset Class

Liquor licences bid by zone, a Certificate of Need law that outlived repeal, and assisted living in two sizes.

Retail liquor

Retail liquor licences in West Virginia are capped and bid by market zone every ten years by the Retail Liquor Licensing Board, the current period running from 2020 to 2030, and NABCA's July 2023 profile counts 182 privately owned retail liquor outlets 69. In the Phase IV bids of 2021, Zone 45 in Marion County had a minimum bid of $200,000 and sold for $615,000, and Zone 70 a minimum of $146,969.76 and a winning bid of $550,000 70. The code also treats someone buying a licence from a current licensee as an applicant, subject to the commissioner's approval 71.

Certificate of Need

Certificate of Need, under W. Va. Code 16-2D and administered by the Health Care Authority, stays in force. House Health rejected HB 2007, a full repeal, by 13-12 on February 24, 2025 72, and SB 453, which would have ended the program on January 1, 2026, died in the Senate's health committee after its last action on February 13, 2025 73. In 2026 the House passed HB 5096 on February 16 to exempt personal care and intellectual and developmental disability services; it went to Senate Health and Human Resources on February 17 and moved no further 74. Radiation therapy needs a certificate whatever the expenditure; the full list of covered facility types was not found 74.

Assisted living and memory care

Assisted living residences are licensed under 64 CSR 14, in the version effective May 1, 2024: a residence serves four or more residents, a small residence has 4 to 16 beds and a large one 17 or more, and bedrooms in an existing large residence give each resident at least 80 square feet 75. West Virginia licenses no separate memory care category: a facility advertising an Alzheimer's or dementia special care unit must disclose it in writing under W. Va. Code 16-5R, the Alzheimer's Special Care Standards Act 76. The latest dated count of such units in nursing homes is for calendar 2017: 9 special care units with 253 beds 77. The 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey counts 374,092 West Virginians aged 65 and over 20.

Wages and rentals

West Virginia's hourly minimum has stood at $8.75 since January 1, 2016, for employers with six or more employees at one location, and the 70% tip credit sets the tipped cash wage at $2.62 78. Sources disagree on whether state law preempts local short-term rental rules, so the code and the local ordinance are checked for each site; marketplace facilitators have collected local hotel occupancy tax since January 1, 2022 79. Counties and municipalities levy that tax by order or ordinance, up to a cap the code sets 80.

Costs, Taxes and Insurance

Capped property levies, a state FAIR Plan and how homeowners rate filings clear.

The Lincoln Institute's profile of January 2022 describes four property classes with constitutional maximum levy rates and a 1990 revenue limit that caps the growth in revenue from reappraisal at 3% 81. A dated effective commercial tax rate for West Virginia was not found, so a pro forma takes the parcel's levy from the county where it sits.

No construction cost index for West Virginia cities was found, so hard costs come from the project's own bids, and county impact fees were found only in Berkeley and Jefferson. An interconnection queue and water allocation limits were not found for the state either.

The West Virginia Essential Property Insurance Association, the state's FAIR Plan, has operated since November 1, 1986; the code has it offer fire and extended coverage on habitational and commercial property, and every property insurer in the state must take part 82. Personal-lines rate filings are deemed approved after 60 days unless disapproved, with a $100 fee per company filing, in the Insurance Commissioner's requirements updated in May 2025 83. Approved commercial rate changes for 2025 and 2026, and any carrier withdrawals, were not found; on the personal side, the Commissioner's Bulletin 24-04 says the office does not mandate home or auto rate increases, in ReSource Pro's 2024 summary 84.

Statewide Supply

WVU Medicine's two capital programs are the dated statewide building record.

WVU Health System announced more than $460 million of capital projects on April 24, 2025, among them the Berkeley Medical Center tower, the Wheeling cancer center and the Jefferson Medical Center expansion 27. On April 15, 2026 WVU Medicine's board approved more than $350 million of further projects, including the Camden Clark tower in Parkersburg, the behavioral health relocation in Morgantown and the work at Thomas Hospitals in Charleston 32. Each project is set out in its market's section.

No statewide 2026 supply count by property type was found. The nearest dated supply counts on the page are the 182 retail liquor outlets and the 2017 special care units in the rules section, and the market sections give the grocery, office, hotel and plant projects each county's record holds. The data center campuses are announcements; none is reported complete.

Dated Decisions

Votes, flood declarations, fee schedules and project milestones on the West Virginia record since February 2025.

DateWhat happenedSource
February 24, 2025House Health rejects HB 2007, the Certificate of Need repeal72
February 26, 2025DR-4861 declared for the February 15 to 18 floods in McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming counties53
March 10, 2025Logan and Wayne counties added to DR-486154
March 2025Berkeley County planners approve the IB10 Martinsburg concept plan near Kearneysville26
April 30, 2025HB 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act, signed12
May 2025Insurance Commissioner updates the homeowners rate filing requirements83
May 20, 2025Jefferson County revises its impact fee schedule24
June 2025Fairfield Inn & Suites opens at I-77 Exit 44 in Beckley40
July 22, 2025DR-4884 declared for the June floods in Marion and Ohio counties55
November 1, 2025Berkeley County's revised impact fees take effect21
November 2025SBA drought loans open to West Virginia businesses, applications due May 26, 202656
December 2025Public comment closes on the rules that implement the data center and microgrid program14
January 5, 2026Charleston's mayor sets 2026 capital priorities and seeks control of Town Center43
February 1, 2026Jefferson County's age-restricted impact fee schedule takes effect24
February 16 and 17, 2026House passes HB 5096; it goes to Senate Health and Human Resources74
February 26, 2026Penzance's Bedington data center campus announced in Berkeley County25
March 14, 2026Session ends without the local-control data center bills; SB 1 and HB 5381 pass15
May 13, 2026Sandvik and Alpha Metallurgical Resources announce a Putnam County plant38
June 2026Nucor's Apple Grove mill runs its first coil37
October 8, 2026Charleston's Capital Connector goes out to construction bid44
Worked Case

Worked cases in West Virginia.

One published case is set in West Virginia, in Fayette County.

The glamping case takes a hypothetical resort of safari tents, insulated domes and four-season cabins on rural land outside Oak Hill, weighs the national park's visitor record against the local short-term rental market, and sizes the guaranteed loan to the coverage its revenue supports. No other West Virginia case is published or promised.

By Asset Class

Asset classes the West Virginia record on this page reaches.

West Virginia Questions

What lenders ask first about a West Virginia site.

Does a certified data center in West Virginia still go through county zoning?

No, once it holds state certification. The data center law signed on April 30, 2025 puts a certified High Impact Data Center or microgrid district beyond the county's zoning and land use authority, and sends 30% of its property tax to the county that hosts it 12. The 2026 session adjourned on March 14, 2026 without enacting the bills that would have returned that authority to local governments 15.

What impact fee does Berkeley County charge on a new house?

$5,362 for each single-family house in the county or in Hedgesville, and $3,690 for one inside Martinsburg, under the schedule revised on October 23, 2025, effective November 1, 2025 21. WV MetroNews put the county figure at $5,500 on November 9, 2025, which differs from the schedule, and Martinsburg asks for proof of payment before a building permit is issued 22. Jefferson County's schedules, revised May 20, 2025 and extended to age restricted housing on February 1, 2026, were found without their dollar amounts 24.

When are West Virginia's retail liquor licences next put out to bid?

After the current ten year period, which runs from 2020 to 2030: the Retail Liquor Licensing Board caps the licences and bids them by market zone every ten years, and NABCA counted 182 privately owned retail liquor outlets in its July 2023 profile 69. In the 2021 Phase IV bids Zone 45 in Marion County drew $615,000 on a $200,000 minimum and Zone 70 $550,000 on $146,969.76 70. Between bids, a buyer taking a licence from a current holder is an applicant in the code, subject to the commissioner's approval 71.

Has Nucor's Apple Grove mill started making steel?

It ran its first coil in June 2026, WV MetroNews reported on July 31, 2026, after standing about 85% complete in April, and the company expects about 50% utilization by the end of 2027; those are Nucor's own forward looking statements 37. The company's 10-K for fiscal 2024 describes a $4 billion sheet mill rated at 3 million tons a year, with about 800 jobs once it runs at full operation 36. The mill sits in Mason County, outside the Huntington metro's West Virginia counties 18, so a Cabell County housing or lodging file that counts on the mill's workers dates each of those statements.

Who issues the permit a Fayette County short term rental needs?

The county health department, under West Virginia's General Sanitation Rule. The permit is yearly and covers the calendar year, its fee depends on the number of bedrooms, an inspection comes before it is granted, and a new owner or a major remodel means applying again 47. Whether the Town of Fayetteville adopted the permit ordinance its council asked for in 2016 was not found 48.

Which fiscal year does USDA Rural Development's $294 million West Virginia figure cover?

The release does not say. Dated March 12, 2026, it credits the agency's "last fiscal year" with $294 million of West Virginia investment, $175 million of it in affordable housing, $83 million in 28 community projects and $36 million in 31 agribusiness and economic development projects 67. The one guarantee it describes is the Eagle Summit East mine's, guaranteed through Stone Bank, carrying 75 jobs and no published dollar figure 67; no fiscal 2025 total was found for Business and Industry, for Community Facilities or for REAP. A West Virginia file quotes the release's date, not a year the release does not give.

Where does a Parkersburg study get employer headcounts?

From the May 2025 employment roundup in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, drawn from the county economic development office: Wood County Schools 1,714 employees, Walmart 633, Wincore 472 and Westbrook Health Services 426, with the Washington Works complex at 1,522 and WVU Parkersburg at 318 33. No hospital is on it; WorkForce West Virginia calls WVU Medicine's Camden Clark the county's largest private employer and gives no headcount 33. The county's next large project is there too: a $135 million patient tower approved on April 15, 2026, taking inpatient beds from 260 to 300 by the second quarter of 2029 32.

Neighboring Markets

States that border West Virginia.

Three of West Virginia's eight markets sit in metro areas that cross a state line.

For a site in Berkeley, Jefferson, Cabell or Ohio County the study works from that county's West Virginia records, and the metro's counties across the line stay out of its figures.

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Sources

Data sources and dates.

The county rows below come from Census QuickFacts' Vintage 2025 county tables and from BLS monthly metro releases, so each entry names the vintage or the month its figure belongs to; the investment totals are the state's own announcement releases.

Market data reviewed by Mark Otava · Updated

  1. West Virginia Division of Economic Development, with the Office of the Governor, West Virginia Reaches $96 Billion in Private-Sector Investment, Supporting More Than 19,000 Projected Jobs, September 4, 2026 (the Governor's announcements of September 3, 2026).
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Monongalia County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Fayette County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  4. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: West Virginia, Vintage 2025 (population July 1, 2025; estimates base April 1, 2020).
  5. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, West Virginia 2025 State Profile, June 2025 (2022 data).
  6. The Herald-Dispatch, Jim Ross column citing the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates (secondary), Jim Ross: Trend of population loss in southern WV continues, 2026 column (Vintage 2025: July 1, 2025 and the 2020 base).
  7. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Kanawha County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  8. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Cabell County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  9. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Ohio County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  10. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Wood County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  11. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Raleigh County, West Virginia, Vintage 2025 county table (population July 1, 2025 and April 1, 2020 base; building permits 2025; ACS 2020 to 2024).
  12. West Virginia Watch, Morrisey signs priority bill meant to incentivize data centers, micro-grids locating in WV, April 30, 2025.
  13. GovTech (secondary), West Virginia Passes New Data Center Development Bill, 2025 (report on HB 2014).
  14. West Virginia Watch, Public comment period for proposed rules on WV data center, microgrid program to close Wednesday (title as the URL gives it), December 8, 2025.
  15. ServerCountry (secondary), West Virginia Data Center Policy, policy page covering the 2026 regular session, which ended March 14, 2026.
  16. West Virginia Watch, 'Empty promises': residents lament lack of protections as data center developments unfold across WV, March 31, 2026.
  17. Office of the Governor of West Virginia, Governor Morrisey Signs Comprehensive Energy Policy and Development Act of 2026, 2026 (signing date not stated in the release).
  18. U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, 2025 Geography Information (Census Data API geoinfo): core based statistical areas, OMB Bulletin 23-01 delineation, geography in effect January 1, 2025.
  19. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), New private housing units authorized by building permits, Berkeley County, WV (BPPRIV054003), annual 2024.
  20. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Detailed Tables (Census Data API), 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates.
  21. Berkeley County Commission, Impact Fee Schedule (Revised 10/23/2025), revised October 23, 2025; effective November 1, 2025.
  22. WV MetroNews, New Berkeley County impact fee now in effect, November 9, 2025.
  23. Berkeley County Commission, Impact Fee Capital Improvement Plan, July 24, 2025.
  24. Jefferson County, West Virginia, Office of Impact Fees, county page (schedule revised May 20, 2025; age-restricted schedule effective February 1, 2026).
  25. West Virginia Division of Economic Development, $4 Billion Data Center Campus Planned for Berkeley County, Positioning West Virginia for the AI and Cloud Economy, February 26, 2026.
  26. ObserverWV, Plan For Data Center Complex Near Kearneysville Approved, April 7, 2025 (concept plan approved March 2025).
  27. Healthcare Design (trade press relaying WVU Health System; secondary), WVU Health System Plans Hospital Expansion Projects Across West Virginia, April 24, 2025.
  28. West Virginia Division of Economic Development (announcements page), Sub-$100 million announcements, including the Governor's release of September 3, 2026 on Randox, September 3, 2026 (Randox).
  29. Berkeley County Development Authority, Major Employers in Berkeley County, current list, no headcounts (read October 2026).
  30. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Morgantown, WV Economy at a Glance, monthly series (December 2025, preliminary).
  31. WVU Medicine, WVU Medicine to invest nearly $400 million in West Virginia's healthcare infrastructure, April 2024 (board approval April 17, 2024).
  32. Becker's Hospital Review, relaying a WVU Medicine release (secondary), WVU Medicine plans $350M in capital projects, April 15, 2026.
  33. Parkersburg News and Sentinel, citing Wood County Economic Development for the county list (secondary), MOVing Forward Today: West Virginia and Ohio Employment Data 2025, May 2025.
  34. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Parkersburg-Vienna, WV Economy at a Glance, monthly series (July 2026, preliminary).
  35. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Income by County, Metro, and Other Areas (Regional table CAINC1), calendar year 2024.
  36. Nucor Corporation, Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024, filed February 2025.
  37. WV MetroNews, citing the company's call (secondary), Nucor CEO says soon to open West Virginia plant will be profitable for decades, July 31, 2026.
  38. Office of the Governor of West Virginia, Governor Morrisey announces new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in West Virginia (title as the URL gives it), May 13, 2026.
  39. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, THUD Community Project Funding disclosure, May 31, 2022 (fiscal 2022 requests).
  40. WVVA, New hotel opens in Beckley, June 11, 2025.
  41. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), Total nonfarm employment, Charleston, WV (CHAR654NA); BLS Mid-Atlantic metro table, monthly series (December 2025 seasonally adjusted; February 2026 not seasonally adjusted, preliminary).
  42. WV Gazette-Mail, Steel and concrete: Here's an update on big commercial projects in the Charleston area, October 3, 2025.
  43. WCHS Network, Charleston mayor eyes city takeover of Town Center, highlights 2026 projects, January 5, 2026.
  44. WV MetroNews, $26 million Capital Connector Project advances to construction bidding phase, October 8, 2026.
  45. City of Charleston, Hotel Occupancy Tax Overview, revised 2024.
  46. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns (Census Data API), 2023 (employment for the pay period including March 12, 2023).
  47. Fayette County Health Department, Short Term Rental, county page, permit year January 1 to December 31.
  48. Fayette Tribune, Council developing regulations for vacation, short-term rentals, 2016.
  49. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Change in total nonfarm employment by state, over-the-month and over-the-year, seasonally adjusted, monthly table (August 2025; August 2026, preliminary).
  50. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Change in nonfarm employment by state, seasonally adjusted (chart package), monthly chart (July 2025; July 2026).
  51. West Virginia Public Broadcasting, citing WorkForce West Virginia, WVU Medicine Tops List of State's Largest Employers, 2016 (March 2016 data).
  52. West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy (secondary, reading the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates), A Growing Death Rate is Outpacing Births and Migration in West Virginia's Population Trends, undated (2025 estimate year).
  53. Federal Emergency Management Agency, West Virginia Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (DR-4861-WV), declared February 26, 2025 (incident February 15 to 18, 2025).
  54. U.S. Small Business Administration, in the Federal Register, Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for the State of West Virginia, March 12, 2025 (amendment adding counties on March 10, 2025).
  55. Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Donald J. Trump Approves Major Disaster Declaration for West Virginia, July 23, 2025 (declared July 22, 2025).
  56. WHSV, SBA offers drought relief to West Virginia small businesses and nonprofits, November 26, 2025.
  57. West Virginia Economic Development Authority, Building Business Momentum: How WVEDA Helps West Virginia Grow, authority page (2025 to 2026).
  58. U.S. Department of the Treasury (text re-hosted by Wyoming County, West Virginia), SSBCI state approvals press release (West Virginia), 2022 (SSBCI 2.0 approval).
  59. WV Business Link, West Virginia Capital Access Program rated top ten in nation for deployment of SSBCI funds, September 25, 2024.
  60. West Virginia Public Broadcasting, First Bill Of 2026 Legislative Session Heads To Morrisey's Desk, 2026 regular session.
  61. Huntington Bancshares, citing SBA (company release; secondary), Huntington Bank is Nation's Top SBA 7(a) Lender by Volume for Seventh Consecutive Year, October 9, 2024 (fiscal 2024).
  62. U.S. House Committee on Small Business, Testimony of Business Finance Group's Williams, hearing of June 29, 2017, June 29, 2017.
  63. U.S. Small Business Administration, Doing business in the West Virginia District, agency page, 2026.
  64. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Capital Access, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, loan status as of June 30, 2026 (approval fiscal years 2016 to 2025).
  65. eCFR, 13 CFR 120.160, Loan conditions, current to October 7, 2026.
  66. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, with Technical Policy Updates, effective October 1, 2026.
  67. USDA Rural Development, USDA Rural Business & Cooperative Programs Administrator J.R. Claeys Visits to Highlight West Virginia Manufacturing, Economic Development, and Domestic Energy Production, March 12, 2026 (the agency's last fiscal year, not named).
  68. West Virginia Legislature, SB 453 (2025), introduced text, 2025 regular session.
  69. National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, State of WV profile, July 2023 (licence period 2020 to 2030).
  70. West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, Phase IV, 2020 License Bid Process: Listing of Successful Bidders, 2021 bids.
  71. West Virginia Legislature, W. Va. Code 60-3A-4, definitions, current code.
  72. West Virginia Watch, House Health votes 13-12 against bill to repeal Certificate of Need in WV, February 24, 2025.
  73. West Virginia Legislature, SB 453 (2025): bill status, 2025 regular session (last action February 13, 2025).
  74. West Virginia Legislature, HB 5096 (2026): introduced text and bill history, 2026 regular session (passed the House February 16, 2026; referred to Senate Health and Human Resources February 17, 2026).
  75. West Virginia Secretary of State, Code of State Rules, 64 CSR 14, Assisted Living Residences, version effective May 1, 2024.
  76. Brevy (secondary), Memory Care in West Virginia (2026), 2026.
  77. West Virginia Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities in West Virginia Annual Report, calendar year 2017.
  78. Workstream (secondary), with the Legislature's HB 4507 (2022) note on the tip credit, Wages in West Virginia 2026, 2026.
  79. West Virginia State Tax Division, Hotel Occupancy Tax, agency page (marketplace facilitator collection from January 1, 2022).
  80. West Virginia Legislature, W. Va. Code Chapter 7, Article 18, Hotel Occupancy Tax, current code.
  81. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Significant Features of the Property Tax: West Virginia, January 2022.
  82. West Virginia Legislature, W. Va. Code 33-20A-3, West Virginia Essential Property Insurance Association, current code (association operating since November 1, 1986).
  83. West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner, Homeowners 2025 filing requirements, updated May 2025.
  84. ReSource Pro, summarizing the Insurance Commissioner's Bulletin 24-04 (secondary), West Virginia issues bulletin regarding homeowners and automobile insurance rates, 2024.