A Split-State Map: 61.6% of West Virginia Lives Near Charleston, 38.4% Beyond

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #28 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

61.6% of West Virginia’s population — about 1.10 M of 1.78 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Charleston. The other 38.4% — including Morgantown — sits beyond the circle.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Charleston, WV state capitol overlaid on West Virginia. 61.6% of West Virginia's population lives inside the dashed ring.

61.6%

of West Virginia’s population within 100 miles of Charleston

1.10 M

residents inside the radius (of 1.78 M statewide)

63 mi

from Charleston to West Virginia’s population centroid

#28

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Charleston, WV · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Charleston capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

West Virginia is a "split" state by this measure: roughly half its residents live within an hour and a half of the capital, and roughly half live beyond. Charleston's 100-mile reach captures Charleston (~89K) and the surrounding counties, but stops well short of Morgantown, which sits 123 miles away. The capital-to-population-centroid distance is 63 miles — a clear signal that political and demographic weight no longer share a single point on the map.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Charleston. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Charleston	89,412
2	Huntington	69,900
3	Parkersburg	44,810
4	Beckley	31,128
5	Princeton	30,479

The largest city outside the radius

West Virginia’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Morgantown, sitting 123 miles from Charleston. The aggregated population of Morgantown’s ZIP codes alone — 98,728 residents — illustrates the gap between West Virginia’s political seat and its population centre.

How West Virginia compares

The states ranked closest to West Virginia on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#27 Indiana

Indianapolis · 62.4% pop. captured

#29 Ohio

Columbus · 58.5% pop. captured

#26 Pennsylvania

Harrisburg · 66.4% pop. captured

#30 New Mexico

Santa Fe · 57.4% pop. captured

#25 Oklahoma

Oklahoma City · 67.5% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Charleston →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Charleston’s reach with that of Charleston, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the West Virginia state capitol building (38.3498°, -81.6326°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in West Virginia, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by West Virginia’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Charleston: How Much of West Virginia Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/west-virginia. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.