Growth patterns of the national economy during the 1950's and 1960's have not been shared by the state of West Virginia; towns and rural areas have lost population and job opportunities have declined. The switch to petroleum products and advanced mining technology displaced many coal mine workers. A national food surplus and the difficulty in mechanizing farms with rough terrain contributed to the 67% reduction in number of farmers and farm operators. Large scale outmigration added to the state's declining population. West Virginia remains the second most rural state in the nation with 61% of the population living in rural areas. The 1970 population structure shows a pronounced deficiency in the number of persons in the child-bearing age groups and among the very young. Growth of new employment in the 1960's-70 decade has appeared, especially in the professional and technical categories. The state's population is presently stabilizing and may reach its 1950 high in the 1980's. The information on the twenty year span of population change reported in this document includes analysis of population distribution, age-sex structure, fertility, and dependency ratios. Other major areas explored are the labor force and employment patterns, education, migration, income, marital status, and family and household characteristics. Both tabular data and textual material are presented on the areas studied. (DS)