Editing Clarksburg, West Virginia (section)

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1860= 895
|1880= 2307
|1890= 3008
|1900= 4050
|1910= 9201
|1920= 27869
|1930= 28866
|1940= 30579
|1950= 32014
|1960= 28112
|1970= 24864
|1980= 22371
|1990= 18059
|2000= 16743
|2010= 16578
|2020= 16039
|estyear=2021
|estimate=15784
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |author=United States Census Bureau |author-link=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 27, 2013 |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321050514/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

=== 2020 census ===
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], there were 16,061 people and 6,588 households residing in the city. There were 8,129 housing units in Clarksburg. The racial makeup of the city was 88% [[White American|White]], 3.9% [[African American]], 0.5% [[Asian American|Asian]], 0.2% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], 0.9% from [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census#Race|other races]], and 6.4% from [[Multiracial American|two or more races]]. [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics or Latinos]] of any race were 3% of the population.

There were 6,588 households, of which 37.4% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 35.2% had a female householder with no spouse present, 20.4% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average household and family size was 3.3. The median age in the city was 39.7 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Clarksburg_city,_West_Virginia?g=1600000US5415628 |access-date=February 23, 2023 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 24, 2013 |archive-date=December 27, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227012639/https://www.census.gov/ |url-status=live }}</ref> of 2010, there were 16,578 people, 7,213 households, and 4,179 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|1702.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 8,132 housing units at an average density of {{convert|834.9|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 92.9% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 3.9% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.2% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.3% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.3% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 2.4% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.6% of the population.

There were 7,213 households, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.1% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.91.

The median age in the city was 39.5 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 16.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]] of 2000, there were 16,743 people, 7,447 households, and 4,378 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,758.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 8,662 housing units at an average density of {{convert|909.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 93.86% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 3.83% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.13% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.36% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.05% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.44% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.34% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] were 1.06% of the population.

There were 7,447 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,722, and the median income for a family was $35,075. Males had a median income of $30,194 versus $22,388 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $17,587. About 14.8% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 28.5% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

===Belgians===
During the first decade of the 20th century, [[French language|French]] was frequently spoken on the West Virginia streets of such communities as [[South Charleston, West Virginia|South Charleston]], the North View section of Clarksburg, and the small town of [[Salem, West Virginia|Salem]]. These neighborhoods shared a connection to the window-glass industry, and the people speaking French often were [[Walloons]], or French-speaking [[Belgians]]. About 1900, changes in window-glass manufacture brought thousands of immigrants from the Charleroi area of Belgium just when the industry was expanding into West Virginia to take advantage of cheap natural gas and large deposits of silica sand. For a generation, window-glass factories, many of which were worker-owned cooperatives, relied heavily on these Belgian immigrants to provide the skills necessary to make West Virginia a national center of production.

West Virginia's Belgians came from an area economically similar to West Virginia. The [[Charleroi basin]] of the [[Hainaut province]] in [[Belgium]] was dependent upon coal mining, steel production, and window-glass manufacturing. The Belgians' new homes in north-central West Virginia and the Kanawha Valley must have felt familiar.

They left [[Europe]] because the Belgian glass factories were struggling in the 1880s and 1890s. Equally important, workers had limited opportunities to voice their concerns either politically or economically. Belgian glassworkers found in the United States an effective trade union to represent their workplace concerns and the means to build a vibrant political movement advocating democratic socialism. In fact, some of these Belgian enclaves, including [[Star City, West Virginia|Star City]] near [[Morgantown, West Virginia|Morgantown]] and Adamston (now part of Clarksburg), elected [[Socialist]] [[mayors]] in the years before [[World War I]]. Aside from politics, Belgian ethnic communities also became famous for the cuisine, musical groups, social clubs, and celebrations composing the unique Belgian cultural heritage.

The technological changes that had made skilled Belgian workers so valuable, however, soon gave way to newer technologies that turned window-glass manufacture from a skilled craft to a mass-production industry. By the end of the 1920s, a few large corporations dominated the industry and machines replaced most of the skilled craftsmen. One exception, window-glass cutters, continued to provide opportunities to a new generation of Belgian-Americans. More than 70 years later, the [[Belgian-American]] Heritage Society keeps alive the history and culture of this fascinating ethnic group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/433 |title=e-WV - Belgians |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622220447/http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/433 |url-status=live }}</ref>