[5] The county falls within the United States National Radio Quiet Zone.

In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government.

This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts.

[6] Upshur County was divided into six districts: Banks, Buckhannon, Meade, Union, Warren, and Washington.

[13] As of the 2010 United States census, there were 24,254 people, 9,619 households, and 6,528 families living in the county.

Whereas most of West Virginia has seen a rapid and continuing shift to the Republican Party since the 1990s, Upshur County—though strongly Democratic during the Second Party System—has ever since statehood been a Republican stronghold due to its powerful Unionist sympathies from Civil War days, and the association of the Democratic Party with the “Slave Power” and creating a war the yeoman residents had no desire to fight.

[18] The solitary post-Civil War Democrat to win the county has been Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and he won by only 168 votes.

Since 1896, only two other Democrats—Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1996—have topped forty percent in the county.

Economy includes coal mining and timber, as well as higher education—the Upshur County seat of Buckhannon is home to the small, private, liberal arts institution West Virginia Wesleyan College.

The West Virginia State Wildlife Center in French Creek also generates some income as a popular tourist attraction.

Upshur County also gained international attention during the Sago Mine disaster in 2006; the blast and ensuing aftermath trapped 13 coal miners for nearly two days, only one of whom survived.