| UPDATE - According to the 2014 Annual National Movers study more residents are moving out of West Virginia than are moving into West Virginia, according to Allied Van Lines.
Overall West Virginia ranked 5th on the list of the "Most Moved" from states last year.
In a survey of customers said most were moving for employment reasons.
ORIGINAL STORY By Bob Weaver
West Virginia lost more people that any other state last year - 2,376, according to the US Census. It is the only other state to see a population decrease, Maine lost 199 people.
West Virginia's population has been pretty static since the 1930s, when it reached 1.8 million for the first time
West Virginia's population is expected to decline in the tens of thousands over the next two decades, according to research at West Virginia University by the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
The census bureau has predicted a population decline for Calhoun for the next 25 years.
The Eastern Panhandle has boomed with suburban D.C. growth, and the area around Morgantown has seen strong growth.
The southern coalfields continue to empty out over three decades, with McDowell County leading the way with 22,000 residents, compared to 100,000 in its heyday.
Wyoming, Logan and Mingo counties are losing population as well.
There are troubling signs with West Virginia's state revenues going down at a time when other states seem to be recovering from the recession.
Those revenue declines are troubling for small, rural counties like Calhoun with a shoe-string budget and low property taxes.
The Calhoun commission will struggle to provide mandated funding for the offices of elected officials, in addition to providing funding for services that residents expect to be provided.
The WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research says that total population in the Mountain State will begin a sustained decline around 2016 and overall the state will lose nearly 19,500 residents between 2010 and 2030.
The coming population loss is expected to be driven by natural population decline â in which births fall short of deaths â as the state's population continues to age.
The other driver is out-migration, primarily related to coal production decide over several decades and the globalization of manufacturing jobs abroad, everything from steel to garment factories.
Wal-Mart has been the state's largest employer for several years.
The state's population that is over age 65 will grow to 22.9 percent by 2030, up from 16 percent in 2010.
West Virginia could
lose one of its three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the upcoming Congressional re-apportionment in 2020. This loss would leave West Virginia with only two seats in the House, down from a high of six before 1950.
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