State Profile

West Virginia

Population (2023): 1,770 million

West Virginia’s public health outcomes and emergency preparedness are generally worse than other states. The state placed in the low performance tier for public health emergency preparedness in TFAH’s 2024 Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report. Deaths within the state due to drug misuse, alcohol, or suicide outpace the country as a whole. Based on 2022 data, the percentage of adults with obesity rank higher than the U.S. median. In addition, the rates of diabetes and hypertension rank higher than the U.S. median.