Ohio County, West Virginia

Ohio County is a county in West Virginia, United States, in the state’s Northern Panhandle,
about 60 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It had a population of 42,425 at the 2020 census,
an estimated 40,496 by 2024, and covers 109 square miles (278 km2), of which 106 square miles
(270 km2) is land, centred near 40°06′N 80°37′W.

Wheeling is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 26003. The
county holds 1 city, 2 towns and 3 villages, plus two former towns now inside Wheeling’s city
limits and a few unincorporated crossroads along the National Road, and it runs on Eastern Time.
Its FIPS code is 54069.

Towns & Villages in Ohio County

Ohio County has 11 named places on record: a city, two towns, three villages, two former towns
now folded into Wheeling with no government or ZIP code of their own, and three unincorporated
communities strung along US 40 west of the city. Neighborhood covers a place inside Wheeling’s
city limits; Unincorp. covers a crossroads with no formal boundary.

Wheeling’s population figure above is citywide, and it is worth a note: Wheeling is
chartered across two counties, and while nearly all of the city sits in Ohio County, a small
southern section reaches into Marshall County, which has no page of its own on this site. Warwood
and Elm Grove were once separate riverside and National Road communities; both were annexed into
Wheeling long ago and now carry the city’s own address and 26003 ZIP code rather than one of
their own.

ZIP Codes

• 26003 — Wheeling and Bethlehem (also covers the annexed Warwood and Elm Grove neighborhoods)
• 26074 — West Liberty
• 26059 — Triadelphia
• 26060 — Valley Grove

Clearview and the unincorporated communities of Roneys Point, Point Mills and Valley Camp have
no ZIP code of their own; mail to those addresses is delivered under the nearest post office’s
code.

Geography

Ohio County sits in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, a narrow strip of the state wedged
between Pennsylvania and Ohio along the Ohio River, which forms the county’s western border.
Of its 109 square miles, 106 are land and 3.2 are water, about 2.9 percent, carried mostly by
Wheeling Creek and its tributary Little Wheeling Creek, which cut the valleys that US 40 and the
county’s towns follow. The county was originally far larger at its 1776 formation, reaching
into what are now Washington and Greene counties in Pennsylvania, before a series of border
disputes tied to the Mason–Dixon line survey trimmed it to its present size. County government
runs through three magisterial districts, consolidated from ten historic districts in the 1980s;
they are used for elections, not as separate local governments.

Brooke County lies to the north, Marshall County to the south, Washington County, Pennsylvania,
to the east, and Belmont and Jefferson counties, Ohio, to the west across the Ohio River.
Brooke County,
Washington County,
Belmont County and
Jefferson County all have their
own pages on this site; Marshall County does not.

Demographics

Ohio County had a population of 42,425 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 40,496 residents, a decline typical of the older industrial Northern Panhandle.
Wheeling and Bethlehem are by far the two largest communities, together holding well over
two-thirds of the county’s population. Median household income runs about $57,094, slightly
above West Virginia’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $55,948. Population density works out to
roughly 400 people per square mile of land, high for West Virginia outside the Eastern Panhandle,
reflecting the county’s small footprint and urban core around Wheeling.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s biggest employment sector, about 3,326
workers, followed by retail trade at 2,387 and educational services at 2,012. WesBanco, a regional
bank holding company operating across West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland and
southern Indiana, is headquartered at 1 Bank Plaza in downtown Wheeling and employs roughly 2,195
people company-wide. West Liberty University, West Virginia’s oldest institution of higher
education, anchors the town of West Liberty. On Wheeling’s outskirts, Oglebay Park draws more
than 3 million visitors a year for its golf courses, the Good Zoo and, each winter, the Oglebay
Festival of Lights, a six-mile drive of synchronized light displays that began in 1985 and now
spreads across the city.

History

Virginia’s colonial government formed Ohio County on October 7, 1776, out of the District
of West Augusta, and named it for the Ohio River along its western edge. West Liberty, then known
as Black’s Cabin, served as county seat from 1777 to 1797, before the seat moved to Wheeling.

In September 1782, during the siege of Fort Henry on the site of present-day Wheeling, defenders
ran low on gunpowder. A local resident, Betty Zane, ran from the fort to a nearby homestead and
back under fire to retrieve a fresh supply, and the fort held. Nearly eighty years later, delegates
from 26 counties in Virginia’s north and west met at Wheeling in 1861, at what is now West
Virginia Independence Hall, and voted against secession from the Union, setting in motion the
creation of West Virginia as a separate state. Wheeling served as the new state’s first capital
from 1863 to 1870, and again from 1875 to 1885. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge, completed in 1849
to carry traffic across the Ohio River to Wheeling Island, was for a time the longest suspension
bridge in the world, and its design influenced the later Brooklyn Bridge.

Getting There

Interstate 70 and Interstate 470 cross Wheeling, and US Route 40, the historic National Road,
runs the length of the county alongside West Virginia Route 2.

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — about 60 miles east
• Columbus, Ohio — about 120 miles west

Wheeling Ohio County Airport, eight miles northeast of downtown Wheeling, handles general
aviation only; it lost scheduled airline service in 1970. Pittsburgh International Airport, about
60 miles east, is the nearest airport with commercial passenger flights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Ohio County located?
It sits in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, about 60 miles west of Pittsburgh, bordered
by Brooke, Marshall, Washington (Pennsylvania), Belmont (Ohio) and Jefferson (Ohio) counties.

What is the population of Ohio County?
42,425 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 40,496.

How big is Ohio County?
109 square miles (278 km2), of which 106 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Ohio County?
Wheeling, the county’s only city, has been the seat since 1797, after West Liberty served in
that role from 1777.

How many towns and villages are in Ohio County?
One city (Wheeling), two towns (West Liberty and Triadelphia), three villages (Bethlehem,
Clearview and Valley Grove), two former towns now inside Wheeling (Warwood and Elm Grove), and
three unincorporated communities on US 40: Roneys Point, Point Mills and Valley Camp.

What ZIP codes does Ohio County use?
26003 for Wheeling and Bethlehem, 26074 for West Liberty, 26059 for Triadelphia and 26060 for
Valley Grove.

What is Ohio County known for?
The 1861 Wheeling Convention that created West Virginia, the 1782 siege of Fort Henry and Betty
Zane’s gunpowder run, and Oglebay Park’s Festival of Lights each winter.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in West Virginia.