West Virginia has the 2nd-most dollar stores per capita, study says

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — In the Mountain State, it seems like dollar stores are in every town and on every corner, and a new study says that’s not too far from the truth.

The study, compiled by luxury clothing outlet Aurélien, found that West Virginia had the second-most dollar stores per capita. The rankings were based on how many Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree stores were in each state compared to its population.

A breakdown of West Virginia’s dollar stores are as follows:

• 313 Dollar General locations
• 98 Family Dollar locations
• 45 Dollar Tree locations
• 456 stores total

The statistics seen above give West Virginia a total of 25.77 stores per 100,000 people, only 3.93 below first-place Mississippi, which has 29.70 stores per 100,000 people. Despite West Virginia’s spot at #2, this placement is solely based on how many stores exist relative to its population, as every other state in the top 10 has at least 700 total stores.

The full top 10 can be found below:

Rank	State	Number of Dollar General Stores	Number of Family Dollar Stores	Number of Dollar Tree Stores	Stores per 100,000 people
1	Mississippi	668	132	74	29.70
2	West Virginia	313	98	45	25.77
3	Arkansas	581	85	70	23.69
4	Alabama	975	127	115	23.41
5	Kentucky	789	152	85	22.18
6	Louisiana	681	166	78	20.08
7	Oklahoma	574	107	71	18.22
8	Tennessee	1032	102	125	17.23
9	South Carolina	690	145	107	16.91
10	Missouri	689	63	129	14.02

Harrison County has been one of the places in West Virginia that’s seen a boom in Dollar General locations in recent years, with four opening in 2024 alone: one in Clarksburg, one in West Milford, one in Wilsonburg and one in Lost Creek.