In the PBS special, Country Boys, film maker David Sutherland, tells a story of hardship, uncertainty, and hope facing two teenagers growing up in Floyd County, KY. Hardship, uncertainty and hope are words that characterize the life of many children in rural America living in regions of the country where economic opportunity, steady employment, and parental support and encouragement are limited. In the first two parts of the documentary, we are introduced to the young men, their families, girlfriends, teachers, and mentors. We also get a bird’s eye view of life in Floyd County. Floyd is located in the Cumberland Plateau region in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field of the state of Kentucky. Prestonsburg, the seat of Floyd County, is located on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River.

Like some other parts of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field, many of Floyd County’s residents brush up against but are largely unrewarded by their location in a region rich in natural resources. The county was home to 10 coal towns in the early 20th Century, but mechanization and strip mining since the mining heyday of the 1940s have made it possible to produce as much coal as before with many fewer workers. Poverty in Floyd is twice the state average and almost three times the national rate (30% versus 15% versus 12%, respectively). Today, the county’s economy is largely moribund, with public services that include health care and education comprising the largest sources of employment. Such an economy works because payments from taxes translate into incomes that are paid to local residents who work in the public schools and social services agencies. Money earned in the county is either immediately consumed or leaks out to outside businesses linked to consumption, such as the Taco Bell restaurant in which Chris worked. The largest private employment sector is retail trade, where work pays just above poverty line wages for a family of four. Income has grown negligibly over the last ten years and is well below the rate of inflation.

A quick tour through the county’s basic statistics provides a stark picture of the context in which Chris and Cody reside. Their world is comprised of many challenges, the least of which is a dwindling population, a population aging in place, a large number of persons of working age outside of the labor force due in part to persistently high levels of unemployment, and education levels that depart significantly from Kentucky and national trends. Other facts about the local economy serve to reinforce the message that a long-standing lack of economic opportunity, combined with the accompanying economic uncertainty, wears on and ultimately shapes individual aspirations.

And yet there is hope. Kids like Cody and Chris are touched by individuals and organizations that provide the support required to overcome obstacles. Family values and religious beliefs are an important structural element in a person’s system of life chances in American communities where economy and society long ago parted ways. (To see a regional view of Floyd County ).

Floyd County has been losing population since the 1980s and has declined by 5,000 persons over the last twenty years.

A smaller number of younger persons and a larger number of older persons characterize the basic demographics of the county.

Steep declines are evident in the percentage of the population in the age group 25 years of age and younger.

Only slightly more than 40% of the working-age population is in the labor force. Almost 32% of the entire population is to some degree disabled.

For twenty years, unemployment in the county has been substantially above the state and national levels. Since 1990, unemployment in Floyd has been double the level for the state of Kentucky.

The lack of economic opportunity greatly diminishes the returns to education. Thirty-five percent of the population lacks a high school education, more than double the national average.

The community of Sago is in Upshur County, West Virginia. Sago is within seventy miles of Morgantown, home of the West Virginia University, and is a two- to three-hour drive from other major West Virginia cities of Charleston, Parkersburg, Huntington and Wheeling. Map of West Virginia and Upshur County (accessed 01/07/06). This discussion presents a profile of Upshur County. To see Upshur County in its national and regional context, go to CensusMapper.

For many communities in the US, the seventy-mile drive between Morgantown and Sago is the equivalent of a morning’s commute to work. Thus, according to some measures, Sago is not an isolated place. Still, by other accounts, the community of Sago couldn’t be further from urban America in terms of economic conditions and employment opportunities. For those living in mining communities, low levels of education, poor health conditions, unstable work histories, and limited access to jobs paying a living wage explain why people work in the mines. With few alternatives, it is no wonder that when the price of coal goes up people risk their lives to take jobs in the mines. In 2004, wages at the Sago mine were in the range of $700/week (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette accessed 01/06/06). Mining roof bolters in West Virginia earned a median $38,580 a year, according to November 2004 estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (the latest data available Charleston Daily Mail accessed 01/06/06). This is well above annual wages in West Virginia, which averaged $28,612 in 2002 (BLS accessed 01/06/06).

The following is a county profile of Upshur. These first data are for 2000 and are drawn from the Census of Population and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Where possible, we compare the experience of the county with the state of West Virginia and the nation. We start with education and then move to labor force status and demographics. Using BLS data we then examine changes in unemployment and employment the county.(These data come from Poverty in America. This website can be accessed to produce additional analysis of US county economic conditions.)

Education

While most adults in Sago over the age of 25 had completed high school in 2000, few had completed a college education. In the county, the percent of the population over the age of 25 with 1-3 or 4 or more years of college education was only 60% of the national level. Education in Upshur County West Virginia

The Absence of Jobs and High Rates of Disability Result in Low Labor Force Participation

In Upshur County, labor force participation rates are low by state and national standards. Almost half of the working-age population is not in the labor force compared with the 36% for the nation. In 2000, the county unemployment level was even with that for the nation. However, these figures are deceiving. Low unemployment levels also are indicative of situations in which working-age individuals leave the labor force due to a lack of jobs. In Upshur County, low unemployment and low labor force participation rates reflect the tendency for working-age persons to leave the labor force either due to health problems or the lack of employment alternatives. One-fifth of the population is considered disabled by the Census (5,323 persons of a total of 23,996 persons).

The Population is Aging and Young People are Leaving

Over the last twenty years, Upshur County has seen a substantial decline in the population of the region under the age of 25. Over the same time period, working age persons and the elderly experienced a sharp increase. This is indicative of a county in which young people leave, presumably in search of jobs and other opportunities, while the working age and elderly population stays behind. Counties in Appalachia also experience significant flows of remigration as former middle and older age migrants return home to be near family.

The Unemployment Rate is about 17% Above the National Rate
The county has had a sluggish economy for several decades. Unemployment rates are considerably above the national average. Within the Appalachian region, the county has a high unemployment rate.

Looking at the Appalachian Coal Region

The following maps by CensusMapper provide a regional view of conditions in coal counties in Appalachia.. These maps compare counties within Appalachia with comparable rates for the nation. A “Coal County” is a county in which mining provides more than 3% of total income (this is approximately the coal region median). While it would be preferable to examine coal mining exclusively, disclosure rules make this estimate the best approximation possible. The bottom line is that these are poor counties with poverty rates substantially above the national median, particularly for white families, children, and dependent populations (persons <18 and > 65). These counties have populations with low median levels of education and high levels of unemployment. In 2003, median household income was substantially below the national median. Per-capita disability and supplemental Social Security income levels are high by national standards. These are communities that have suffered for many years through periods of economic uncertainty and have enjoyed few employment alternatives to coal. The population lacks the education opportunities that might lead to better jobs. People work in the coal industry because they have to. It is not always a matter of choice.