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Highest elevation Kelly Knob 1,512 ft (461 m) Lowest elevation Ohio River 485 ft (148 m) | ||
The Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area is the largest MSA in West Virginia. The United States metropolitan area includes seven counties across three states: West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 361,580. The MSA is nestled along the banks of the Ohio River within the Appalachian Plateau region. The area is most often referred to locally as the Tri-State region. Sometimes it is also referred to by the acronym KYOVA (KentuckY, Ohio, West VirginiA). In addition, the three largest cities (Huntington, West Virginia; Ashland, Kentucky; and Ironton, Ohio) are referred to locally as the River Cities.
Contents
Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 288,649 people, 117,697 households, and 81,089 families residing within the MSA (New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 363,000). The racial makeup of the MSA was 95.91% White, 2.42% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.68% of the population.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $29,970, and the median income for a family was $37,102. Males had a median income of $33,032 versus $21,543 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,514.
In 2008, an Associated Press article designated the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area as the unhealthiest in America, based on its analysis of data collected in 2006 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly half the adults in this metropolitan area were obese.
Major highways
Area codes
The following prefixes are used for long-distance phone service dialing to the region within the MSA.