Boone County, West Virginia

Boone County population, land area and income

Boone County had 20,496 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 502.4 square miles of land. It ranks 29th of 55 in West Virginia by population and 16th by land area. That works out to 40.8 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and below the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in West Virginia has 21,285 residents, about the same as Boone County.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $48,034 is in the bottom quarter among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Boone County's population changed since 2020

Boone County lost 1,250 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 5.7%. That ranks 51st of 55 in West Virginia for growth. The median West Virginia county changed by -2.9%, and the state as a whole by -1.2%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Boone County recorded 844 births and 1,567 deaths, a natural change of -723. Net international migration added +21 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -613. The largest single component was natural change, which removed 723 people.

Where Boone County is

The Census internal point of Boone County is at 38.022800, -81.713500. It sits in UTM zone 17N. The map shades West Virginia's 55 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Boone County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Boone County

One incorporated place of 1,000+ people has residents in Boone County, 2,719 people together, or 13% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Boone County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Madison with 2,719.

Counties bordering Boone County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 5 neighbors for Boone County. The most populous is Kanawha County, WV, with 173,906 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Kanawha County

  173,906 people

  23 mi NNE

• Raleigh County

  72,379 people

  30 mi SE

• Logan County

  30,560 people

  18 mi SW

• Wyoming County

  19,964 people

  30 mi SSE

• Lincoln County

  19,377 people

  22 mi WNW

Distance to Charleston and the nearest big city

Charleston is 22.3 miles NNE of Boone County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Lexington-Fayette, KY (population 329,437), 149.4 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is South Charleston, WV (population 13,177), 22.0 miles away.

Boone County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Boone County is 54005: state code 54 for West Virginia plus county code 005. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $48,034.