Elakala Falls, Blackwater Falls State Park, West VirginiaPhoto: Forest Wander from Cross Lanes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Courthouse in Cabell County, West VirginiaPhoto: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of living in West Virginia

Rent, income, home value and property tax for West Virginia, home to 1.78M people, then the same for each of its 55 counties. Every figure is the published one, with its source named.

Median rent: $872; Census ACS, B25064, monthly
Median household income: $59,608; Census ACS, B19013, yearly
Median home value: $162,600; Census ACS, B25077
Median property tax bill: $865; Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners
Mean commute: 27 min; Census ACS, DP03, one way
Unemployment: 5.4%; Census ACS, DP03

West Virginia's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 11% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in West Virginia

These are the most populous places in West Virginia, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

Kanawha County
Population
177K
Rent
$906
Household income
$60,943
Prop. tax (yearly)
$964
Plan
Berkeley County
Population
130K
Rent
$1,233
Household income
$80,815
Prop. tax (yearly)
$1,398
Plan
Monongalia County
Population
107K
Rent
$987
Household income
$65,346
Prop. tax (yearly)
$1,248
Plan

West Virginia, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, as the 35th state. Most western delegates opposed secession at the Virginia convention of April 1861 and later met on their own at Wheeling. West Virginia joined the Union in 1863 and made Charleston its permanent capital in 1885.

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
A whitewater river in deep canyons, among the oldest rivers on the continent, within 70,000 acres of parkland.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
The town where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet, site of John Brown's raid against slavery.
Blackwater Falls State Park
A 57-foot waterfall with amber water, colored by tannic acid from hemlock and red spruce needles.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in West Virginia

Current owners in West Virginia pay a median 0.53% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $865 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $303 in Webster County to $1,857 in Jefferson County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in West Virginia

Life expectancy: 72.1 yrs; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics
No health insurance: 7.4%; County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65
Poor or fair health: 22.9%; County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted
Injury deaths per 100K people: 146; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for West Virginia as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in West Virginia

Expected yearly loss, statewide: $999M; All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more
Building loss rate: $2.43; Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states
Costliest hazard: Inland flooding; $859M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses
Air quality: —; The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in West Virginia

Permitted in 2025

3,962homes

Per 1,000 residents

2.2

Single-family · larger buildings

3,618 · 344

3,2042020
3,6922021
3,4062022
4,0142023
4,1922024
3,9622025

West Virginia approved permits for 3,962 new homes in 2025. That is about 2.2 homes for every 1,000 people. 3,618 were single-family houses, and 344 were in buildings with two or more homes. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly count stayed between 3,204 and 4,192.

43rd of the 50 states and DC by homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025.

A permit lets a home be built. It does not mean the home is finished. Some offices did not report, so part of this figure is a Census estimate. The offices that did report account for 3,622. Source: US Census Building Permits Survey, annual 2025 data.

Side by side

Kanawha County, WV is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in West Virginia

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

All 55 counties in West Virginia

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.


Barbour County	$803	$51,394	$131,900	$562	15.4K	2
Berkeley County	$1,233	$80,815	$266,300	$1,398	130K	1,140
Boone County	$837	$57,093	$93,100	$620	21K	6
Braxton County	$606	$50,331	$117,900	$535	12.2K	11
Brooke County	$645	$54,316	$141,500	$746	21.8K	none
Cabell County	$923	$55,832	$164,400	$992	92.7K	71
Calhoun County	$473	$43,980	$100,500	$426	6,048	6
Clay County	$651	$42,318	$109,100	$377	7,835	11
Doddridge County	$866	$57,401	$160,800	$808	7,711	—
Fayette County	$788	$53,194	$105,800	$676	39.5K	27
Gilmer County	$750	$47,981	$83,800	$410	7,288	6
Grant County	$644	$62,361	$175,100	$540	11K	23
Greenbrier County	$868	$48,218	$149,000	$663	32.4K	108
Hampshire County	$720	$63,116	$219,200	$836	23.5K	129
Hancock County	$771	$61,466	$130,800	$826	28.4K	14
Hardy County	$816	$49,272	$166,300	$575	14.2K	66
Harrison County	$879	$60,377	$166,200	$908	65K	192
Jackson County	$716	$58,845	$157,200	$834	27.7K	none
Jefferson County	$1,108	$98,806	$350,800	$1,857	59.3K	1,324
Kanawha County	$906	$60,943	$147,300	$964	177K	97
Lewis County	$730	$56,477	$151,800	$692	16.7K	5
Lincoln County	$771	$46,205	$105,300	$538	19.9K	11
Logan County	$710	$49,723	$103,400	$576	31.4K	1
Marion County	$932	$67,370	$166,700	$978	55.9K	10
Marshall County	$837	$59,169	$149,800	$680	29.9K	none
Mason County	$671	$49,761	$120,300	$706	25K	7
McDowell County	$643	$31,559	$50,000	$337	17.9K	none
Mercer County	$810	$53,210	$121,700	$656	58.6K	5
Mineral County	$809	$69,375	$180,400	$818	26.9K	43
Mingo County	$647	$38,119	$90,500	$423	22.5K	none
Monongalia County	$987	$65,346	$267,700	$1,248	107K	22
Monroe County	$690	$56,750	$156,300	$725	12.4K	3
Morgan County	$794	$72,179	$240,600	$1,125	17.4K	130
Nicholas County	$686	$54,639	$121,600	$554	24.3K	2
Ohio County	$821	$57,094	$166,000	$999	41.6K	3
Pendleton County	$770	$64,931	$183,800	$633	6,043	23
Pleasants County	$715	$60,932	$151,000	$819	7,521	3
Pocahontas County	$715	$42,119	$152,400	$462	7,784	7
Preston County	$750	$61,880	$162,800	$793	34.2K	8
Putnam County	$952	$79,527	$223,300	$1,311	57.2K	118
Raleigh County	$902	$52,150	$150,900	$754	73.2K	50
Randolph County	$821	$52,757	$144,800	$559	27.6K	none
Ritchie County	$579	$50,582	$115,900	$763	8,286	32
Roane County	$614	$45,778	$122,100	$537	13.8K	21
Summers County	$915	$40,699	$140,100	$439	11.7K	12
Taylor County	$835	$57,795	$148,800	$797	16.5K	none
Tucker County	$656	$53,358	$154,800	$575	6,654	1
Tyler County	$748	$63,693	$121,300	$689	8,064	none
Upshur County	$886	$54,338	$170,800	$717	23.7K	30
Wayne County	$915	$58,878	$127,100	$594	38.2K	61
Webster County	$709	$43,839	$76,100	$303	8,144	none
Wetzel County	$688	$56,836	$107,900	$721	14.1K	2
Wirt County	$558	$49,867	$115,800	$597	5,053	12
Wood County	$822	$57,810	$158,500	$941	83.4K	87
Wyoming County	$650	$48,440	$82,900	$369	20.6K	20

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: West Virginia next to your own state, by what you value.

See West Virginia beside your own state
Find your fit puts it next to where you live and the states next door, by what matters to you. Made-up answers are fine, since this is a tool, not a survey. No account needed.
Find your fit
Pick a county here and make it your target
The three counties above each carry Set as target. From there the Journey lays out the runway and the steps. An account keeps it private and yours across devices.
See the three counties

West Virginia at a glance

The three most populous counties in West Virginia

Kanawha County

Berkeley County

Monongalia County