| USA Today published an article on 25 cities in the United States that are losing more residents than gaining.
A Wall Street Journal article said the state refuses to diversify.
Five of the top 10 metro areas on the list were West Virginia areas including Wheeling, Charleston, Beckley, and Weirton. Cumberland, Maryland was the fifth area involving the Mountain State on the list of shrinking cities.
Brian Lego, Assistant Professor at WVU at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research said most of these areas have been so dependent on just one industry and now that industry is gone.
“In itâs heyday, you would see places like Wheeling, Youngstown, Weirton witn the steel industry flourishing,” he said, and the state dependent on coal.
The Charleston metro area was third on the list with a 5.5 percent loss in population from 226,901 to 214, 406 and nearly 10,000 residents lost due to migration.
All metro area numbers were measured from 2010 to 2017.
Fifth on the list was Beckley with a 5.1 percent loss in population from 124,959 to 118,250 and losing more than 4,500 due to migration.
Right behind Beckley was Weirton and Steubenville, Ohio area with a 4.9 percent loss in population from 124,326 to 118, 250 and losing more than 2,000 due to migration.
Down the Ohio River from Weirton is Wheeling, which that area has suffered a 4.5 loss in population change, ranking 8th on the list. The Wheeling area has seen a loss of 3,700 residents due to migration.
The Cumberland, Maryland area that borders West Virginia shows a population loss of 4.2 percent from 103,161 to 98,837 and a loss of more than 2,500 residents due to migration.
You lose your key employer in an area and all of a sudden the people that are left are faced with problems that causes a moving.
See  WEST VIRGINIA LOSING MORE RESIDENTS THAN ANY OTHER STATE - Sticking To Extractables To Grow Economy
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