• Economic Development & Tourism
• Economic Profile
• Goal 1
• Goal 2
• Goal 3
• Goal 4

Economic Profile

Income

The 2012 median household income in Shepherdstown was $81,029, which is 13% higher than the median household income in the Growth Management Boundary ($71,607) and 26% higher than in Jefferson County as a whole ($64,314). Since 1990, median household ncome has increased significantly, going up by nearly $50,000, or approximately 155%, over that time period.

In contrast to the high levels of household income, the per capita income in Shepherdstown is lower than the per capita incomes in the Growth Management Boundary and Jefferson County. This is due in large part to the large share of the population being full time college students, which is generally associated with lower incomes than the population as a whole. At $31,740, the per capita income in The Urban Growth Boundary is 33% higher than in town, while the Jefferson County per capita income of $29,655 is 28% higher than in town. Since 1990, per capita income in Shepherdstown has nearly doubled, increasing by almost $10,000, or 88%, over the 1990 level of $11,291.

The poverty rate in Shepherdstown in 2012 was significantly higher than the poverty rates found in the Growth Management Boundary or Jefferson County as a whole. The 2012 poverty threshold for an individual was $11,170 and $23,050 for a family of four. In the corporate limits, approximately 21% of the total population lived below the poverty line, while the Growth Management Boundary and Jefferson County had similar rates of 12% and 11% respectively. Like the per capita income, the higher rate of poverty in Shepherdstown proper is likely influenced heavily by the large number of college students, particularly those residing off-campus, who would be more likely to have lower incomes than other adults in town.

Employment

The 2012 labor force participation rate in Shepherdstown was approximately 61%, which is slightly lower than the rate of 61.3% in the Growth Management Boundary and significantly lower than the rate of 67.8% found in Jefferson County as a whole. The rate of 61% is, however, much higher than the 55.4% of the population who were in the labor force in Shepherdstown in 1990. This increase reflects a general trend of higher labor force participation by college students. The unemployment rate in Shepherdstown was 8.8% in 2012, which is higher than the unemployment rates seen in the Growth Management Boundary (7.1%) and Jefferson County as a whole (8.1%). The recent unemployment rate in town is in contrast to the much lower rates seen in 1990 (3.7%) and 2000 (4.6%). While reflective of nationally high unemployment rates over the past several years, this too was likely influenced by higher labor force participation rates, particularly among college students.

Occupations and Industries

As could be expected with the presence of Shepherd University in town, the industry sector comprised of education, health care and social services employed the largest percentage of the town’s residents with over 27% of the town’s workforce employed in that sector. The arts and entertainment sector and information sector each employed over 15% of the town’s workforce, while the retail sector was the only other sector employing more than 10% of the workforce. Industry sectors employing between 5% and 10% of the workforce include the public administration and professional, scientific and management sectors, each of which employed nearly 8% of the workforce, while the finance, insurance and real estate sector employed just over 5% of the workforce. Of particular note in the industry sector data is that less than 1% of the workforce was employed in the manufacturing sector and only slightly more than 1% were employed in the construction sector. As the data suggests, the town’s workforce is heavily aligned to knowledge, service and similar sectors rather than the extraction, production or transportation sectors.

The occupations held by members of Shepherdstown’s workforce (the specific type of job within the industry sector) were concentrated most heavily in the management, business, science and arts occupations, with over 43% of the workforce employed in this capacity. Service occupations and those related to sales or office employment accounted for around 26% and 27% of the employed workforce respectively. The remaining portion of the workforce was employed in jobs related to natural resources and construction (1.8%) and production and transportation (0.9%).

Commuting Times

The average commute for Shepherdstown’s workforce was much lower in 2012 than for workers in the Growth Management Boundary of Jefferson County as a whole. At 19.3 minutes, workers in Shepherdstown traveled, on average, for 30% less time than workers in the Growth Management Boundary (27.6 minutes) and 51% less than workers in Jefferson County (39.2 minutes). The average commute time for Shepherdstown’s workforce has increased from 1990, when the average time to work was only 15.7 minutes, but has decreased since 2000, when the average commute rose to over 21 minutes.

Education

Since 1990, the share of Shepherdstown’s population over the age of 25 who hold a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree has steadily increased, from around 44% in 1990 to over 50% in 2012. In 2000, the share of the population in this age group holding a graduate degree actually exceeded the share of the population with a bachelor’s degree. This greatly exceeds the share of the over 25 population in both Jefferson County (28%) and West Virginia (18%) holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, and is reflected in the town’s exceptionally high median household income. As the share of the town’s population with a bachelor’s or graduate degree steadily increased since 1990, the share of the population who did not graduate from high school steadily decreased, from almost 19% of the population in 1990 to under 10% of the population in 2012. The 2012 share of the population in this category is significantly lower than Jefferson County’s (16%) and the share of the population in West Virginia as a whole (18%).

Property Values

Between fiscal years 2005-06 and 2013-14, Shepherdstown has seen the value of property within the corporate limits rise dramatically to a peak in fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10, before falling back significantly in later years. In fiscal year 2005-06, the total value of all taxable property in town was $56.9 million dollars. By 2008, this had increased to over $94 million, and then began to go down in fiscal year 2010-11, finally settling around $74 million in fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14. Despite the recent decreases in value, the most recent valuation is more than 23% higher than in fiscal year 2005-06, which is around 21% lower than the peak values seen several years ago. The distribution of the value of taxable property between Class II properties, or those which are owned, occupied and used for the benefit of the owner, and Class IV properties, which all other property within the town falls in, has remained fairly constant since fiscal year 2005-06, with Class II properties comprising around 46% of the town’s assessed valuation.

University Enrollment

Since 1999, Shepherd University has seen a significant increase in both the number of individuals enrolled as students as well as the number of full-time equivalent students. Since 1999, the total number of students enrolled at the university has increased by almost 38%, going from just over 3,000 students in 1999 to over 4,200 in 2013. Increases in enrollment were seen in each academic year, with the exception of 2001, 2010, 2012 and 2013, which all saw small decreases in the total number of enrolled students.

• Economic Development & Tourism
• Economic Profile
• Goal 1
• Goal 2
• Goal 3
• Goal 4