# What part of the U.S. is West Virginia in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269 "2016-08-28T13:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/1 "2016-08-28T13:32:04Z")
Yes, I know how to find it on a map. There’s a reason this Thread is in IMHO instead of General Questions. West Virginia Border States are all easy to place as to what region of the country they’re in:[ul] [li]Ohio - The Midwest[/li][li]Pennsylvania - The Northeast[/li][li]Maryland - The Northeast[/li][li]Virginia - The South[/li][li]Kentucky - The South[/li][/ul] But is West Virginia part of the Midwest? That doesn’t seem right. It’s not the Northeast. It used to actually be part of Virginia, which is definitely the South, but it broke off during the Civil War when North and South were very strictly defined. So, although it has historic ties to the South, it doesn’t seem right to say that it is part of the South. So, where the hell is West Virginia? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/2 "2016-08-28T13:34:34Z")
It’s in the middle class. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/3 "2016-08-28T13:43:16Z")
I’ve never lived there, but I’m from NY and I’ve never really considered Ohio to be the Mid-West (that starts at Indiana). I lump Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia together as sort of working class, blue collar (i.e. mining industry) northern states. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/4 "2016-08-28T13:49:10Z")
There are many ways to group and slice states and regions, depending on the purpose and criteria. Without other context, I’d call West Virginia and Maryland both Upper South. The [census](http://www.census.gov/econ/census/help/geography/regions_and_divisions.html) calls them South or South Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/5 "2016-08-28T13:54:31Z")
Appalachia. Together with far western Maryland, SW Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and eastern North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/6 "2016-08-28T14:01:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Appalachia. Together with far western Maryland, SW Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and eastern North Carolina. That’s my answer. Only thing is that they’re the only wholly Appalachian state so the other states tend to get classified as something other than “Appalachian”. If I was forced into a South/Midwest/Northeastern/etc classification, I’d call it the South. Fits better than Midwest, anyway. But Appalachian is really the most accurate as that swath has its own culture. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/7 "2016-08-28T14:01:54Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There are many ways to group and slice states and regions, depending on the purpose and criteria. This, which is what my perhaps too-snarky post above meant. Like the slippery term “middle class,” which group an ambiguously placed state is included in often selected to benefit whoever’s talking. Need more Rust Belt population? Include WV. Need a bigger South? There’s WV again. Need to empower the Midwest? Hey, WaVy! You don’t even have to cite it, and too bad about anyone who thinks you’re talking about a different grouping, eh? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/8 "2016-08-28T14:03:20Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Appalachia. Together with far western Maryland, SW Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and eastern North Carolina. You mean western North Carolina. And part of western Pennsylvania. Yes, Appalachia is more meaningful than many other region concepts, if uou’re willing to slice portions of states. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/9 "2016-08-28T14:05:42Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Appalachia. Together with far western Maryland, SW Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and eastern North Carolina. I think this is the correct answer. Not to get off track but Maryland has an identity crisis when it comes to this sort of thing. We’re not a northern state by virtue of the Mason-Dixon line but we’re not a southern state having not joined the Confederacy. Some consider us part of the mid-Atlantic seaboard but that lumps us in with Delaware (meh) and New Jersey (no comment). ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/10 "2016-08-28T14:09:18Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve never lived there, but I’m from NY and I’ve never really considered Ohio to be the Mid-West (that starts at Indiana). I lump Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia together as sort of working class, blue collar (i.e. mining industry) northern states. Having lived in Ohio, with several relatives in Ohio and Indiana, I can very much assure you that people in Ohio consider it the midwest. For one thing, there’s really no distinguishable difference between the corn and soy fields on either side of the Ohio-Indiana Border. It is true that parts of Ohio start to blend into Appalachia along the south and eastern borders. Back to the OP, you could also include West Virginia in the “Rust Belt”, which includes all the cities from Chicago to Buffalo that used to have a lot of heavy manufacturing. IIRC there wasn’t much late-stage manufacturing (like an auto plant) in West Virginia, but there were plenty of coal mines and steel mills feeding into the former “Steel Belt” economy. The Wiki page for “economy of West Virginia” lists the state as a “national biotech hub”. Thanks for the laugh, economic development board intern! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/11 "2016-08-28T14:32:54Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Appalachia. Together with far western Maryland, SW Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and eastern North Carolina. Ding! Appalachia. Though you need to include Southeast Ohio in that list as well. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/12 "2016-08-28T15:40:15Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Not to get off track but Maryland has an identity crisis when it comes to this sort of thing. > > We’re not a northern state by virtue of the Mason-Dixon line but we’re not a southern state having not joined the Confederacy. Some consider us part of the mid-Atlantic seaboard but that lumps us in with Delaware (meh) and New Jersey (no comment). I was born and raised in Maryland (PG County) and I would always have said mid-Atlantic first, northern second. We were not part of the South, no way. Funnily enough I’m not sure I ever gave any thought to what West Virginia was. I’m not sure we ever really talked about it, except in a sneery “go back to West Virginia, you hick” sort of way. I suppose these days it’s probably considered a DC suburb. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/13 "2016-08-28T15:59:26Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > I was born and raised in Maryland (PG County) and I would always have said mid-Atlantic first, northern second. We were not part of the South, no way. My mother’s side of the family who straddled rural Maryland and Virginia absolutely considered themselves southerners :D. Complete with grits w/tomato gravy, fried green tomatoes and a healthy sprinkling of “y’all” in their speech patterns. Maryland is a bit of a transitional outlier in that respect, not entirely clearly one or the other. Wouldn’t be surprised if the cultural outlook in that regard varied by county. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/14 "2016-08-28T16:06:24Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > My mother’s side of the family who straddled rural Maryland and Virginia absolutely considered themselves southerners :D. David Brinkley and other writers have made a convincing case that DC was a sleepy southern city before the war. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/15 "2016-08-28T16:08:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > My mother’s side of the family who straddled rural Maryland and Virginia absolutely considered themselves southerners :D. Complete with grits w/tomato gravy, fried green tomatoes and a healthy sprinkling of “y’all” in their speech patterns. Maryland is a bit of a transitional outlier in that respect, not entirely clearly one or the other. Wouldn’t be surprised if the cultural outlook in that regard varied by county. Still, I would never consider MD to be in the “Northeast”. Mid-Atlantic, yes, but not the Northeast. PA is a bit of a stretch, too. I think it is sometimes considered to be part of the Northeast, but it’s Mid-Atlantic to me. I’d be OK with Mid-Atlantic for WV, even though it has no coastline. It’s right in there with the other Mid-Atlantic states. If there were other states entirely in Appalachia, then that would be the best region to associate it with. But it’s the only one. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/16 "2016-08-28T16:30:48Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > It is true that parts of Ohio start to blend into Appalachia along the south and eastern borders. Yes. Oh, Hell, yes. All the way into Zanesville. Southeast Ohio has the Moonshine Festival in New Straitsville. People in Zanesville are fond of drawling things like, “He’s so dumb he couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel.” My cousins from the Cinci area sounded like they were from Texas to us northern Ohio folks. Driving around Perry County (did a lot when I researched my book) is like being in “Deliverance”. I called up an auction house in this area to see if they could fax me a list of the sale items. Reply, “Oh honey, we don’t have no fax machine, we’re out here in the middle of nowhere.” The rest of us are in the Midwest. The cities along Lake Erie are the heart of the Rust Belt, and comprise the North Coast. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/17 "2016-08-28T16:40:28Z")
My first thought before even reading the thread, “It’s in Appalachia.” I see that I was right. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/18 "2016-08-28T16:46:21Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > My mother’s side of the family who straddled rural Maryland and Virginia absolutely considered themselves southerners :D. Complete with grits w/tomato gravy, fried green tomatoes and a healthy sprinkling of “y’all” in their speech patterns. Maryland is a bit of a transitional outlier in that respect, not entirely clearly one or the other. Wouldn’t be surprised if the cultural outlook in that regard varied by county. Which county were they? I admit we did say “y’all”, that was like our one concession to southern-ness. But at least we kept it to one syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/19 "2016-08-28T16:47:48Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > My first thought before even reading the thread, “It’s in Appalachia.” I see that I was right. For some, Sacramentocentric values of right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269/20 "2016-08-28T16:50:35Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve never lived there, but I’m from NY and I’ve never really considered Ohio to be the Mid-West (that starts at Indiana). I lump Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia together as sort of working class, blue collar (i.e. mining industry) northern states. New York itself is split into three different regions. New York City and its surrounding areas are the heart of the East Coast (assuming you don’t consider NYC to be a region all by itself). Upstate New York - everything north of a line from Alexandria Bay to Boonville to Whitehall - is rural small towns and is essentially the western end of New England. The middle of New York is Rust Belt. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-part-of-the-u-s-is-west-virginia-in/764269.md?page=2)