Many people are leaving Beckley, as there’s always a dark cloud over this place. The only thing there is to do in Beckley is to eat sketchy food or shop at makeshift stores, in other words, it’s not a diverse place at all.
Even the cops, supposedly there to protect you, will rip your vehicle to shreds looking for any reason to arrest you. Happiness is not allowed here, so it would be best to stay far away from this dreadful place. Just like the rest of West Virginia, Beckley needs help to overcome its opioid epidemic.
Weirton, West Virginia
Welcome to the land where the hillbilly was born and is still going strong. No wonder people are leaving Weirton; there is little opportunity for career growth, extremely conservative beliefs, little diversity, poor healthcare, and horrible school systems all make this terribly small town a nightmare to raise a family in.
On top of all that, Weirton has an aging population, with more than one in every five Weirton residents 65 or older. With nothing to do except go to Wal-Mart if you want anything to do after nine pm, we'd also want to scoot on out if we lived here.
Danville, Illinois
Danville is in the heart of the rust belt, and its population has been steadily declining for years. The area is full of people who simply can't afford to live anywhere else. With that being said, you can buy a house there for less than the price of a new car... But then, you'd have to live there.
More than 5,000 more people moved out of Danville alone, contributing to a 5.9% overall population decline. It seems that Danville's loss is a microcosm of a more widespread problem across Illinois, over half a million people left Illinois since 2010!
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit grew considerably over the first five decades of the 20th century – from 285,704 in 1900 to 1.85 million in 1950, becoming the fifth-largest city in the country. Just as heavy industry growth helped Detroit become the flourishing motor manufacturing capital, rapid declines in the sector led to heavy job losses and its population's mass exodus.
As is generally the case, Detroit struggles with high violent crime and poverty rates. Nearly 40% of the city's community lives in poverty.
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston lies nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, with many good people and a lot of Baptist churches. But over the past decade, Anniston and the surrounding area's population dwindled by 3.5% – even as the state of Alabama's population grew by 2.1%. This shift happened as people moved out in favor of areas with better employment opportunities.
Over the last decade, the number of jobs in the metro area fell by 4.8%. The Anniston metro area's job market remains worse than it is across the state as a whole. In 2018, 4.7% of this city's workers were out of a job compared to Alabama's 4.1% unemployment rate.