County Maps US

McDowell County, West Virginia

A county in West Virginia, ranked 33 of 55 by population.

CountyFIPS 54047

Within West Virginia
McDowell County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Welch, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
16,878
-2,064 (-10.9%) since 2020
Land area
533.5
square miles. A further 0.3% of the total area is water
Population density
31.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Welch
Seat of county government.
Established
1858
167 years ago
Largest city
Welch city
Population 3,389.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of McDowell County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of McDowell County, West Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 541 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where McDowell County ranks

Position among the 55 counties of West Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn West VirginiaNationally
Population16,87833rd of 551,984th of 3,144
Land area533.5 sq mi13th of 551,955th of 3,144
Population density31.6 per sq mi37th of 551,878th of 3,144
Median household income$31,55955th of 553,135th of 3,143

Full data for McDowell County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population16,878Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202018,942Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?19,123Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area533.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area534.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?31.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$31,559American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$50,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age43.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,467American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units9,336American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-197
135 births, 332 deaths
Net migration
-111
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering McDowell County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Wyoming CountyWest Virginia49 mi19,801
Buchanan CountyVirginia41 mi18,492
Tazewell CountyVirginia32 mi38,635
Mercer CountyWest Virginia6.6 mi57,503
Mingo CountyWest Virginia5.7 mi21,455

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 55 counties of West Virginia

Open the interactive West Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.