The 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In West Virginia For 2022

West Virginia isn't just any Appalachian state, it's actually one of the safest, most family friendly states in America.

Ask any West Virginian and they will tell you that there are a ton of family friendly activities everywhere you turn. The Mountain State is just one big playground for little and big kids alike. If you're looking for a state with affordable, family friendly staycations, West Virginia is your place. There are 37 State Parks and four National Parks that dot West Virginia's landscape. Amusement parks like Jaydee's Family Fun Center in Inwood and Ace Adventure Park in Oak Hill will keep your family entertained for an entire weekend. And if museums and zoos are more your family's style, check out the Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling, and/or the Youth Museum in Beckley.

In all family, friendly seriousness, West Virginia has some of the best schools in the country. Blue Ribbon elementary schools, gold star high schools, and colleges like West Virginia University in Morgantown have been delivering the next generation to work at major West Virginia companies like American Public Education Inc in Charles Town.

To take a closer look at the top ten family friendly places in West Virginia for 2022, grab your family, a hot apple dumplin', and head to a sunny spot on the Shenandoah River and read on.

To narrow down the most family friendly cities in West Virginia, we looked at several factors: crime, education, family friendly activities and percent of households that currently have children. The cities also had to have a population of at least 6,000.

We ended up with 7 family friendly West Virginia places. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to narrow down the most family friendly place in West Virginia for 2022.

Drum roll... kudos to Oak Hill for taking the number one spot.

More importantly, if you care about your family living where crime is low, schools are awesome, great jobs are plentiful, and there's a ton of stuff to do, look below at West Virginia's top ten. And if you don't find your favorite there, head to the bottom.

Check out some more reading about West Virginia and the best places for families in the country:

• Best Places To Live In West Virginia
• Cheapest Places To Live In West Virginia
• Best Cities To Raise A Family In America
• Best States To Raise A Family In America

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Methodology: How do you determine which place is best for families in West Virginia anyways?

To give you the places in West Virginia which are best for families, we have to look at a handful of metrics. Of course, we want to measure the type of people who live in each city, and make some assumptions about what's family-friendly and what isn't.

So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.

How we crunched the family friendly numbers for the Mountain State

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of West Virginia, we looked at every single city in the state. We paid particular attention to:

• Crime (Both violent and property)
• Quality of local schools
• Distance to a major city without necessarily being in it
• % of households with children
• Family-friendly amenities nearby (museums, libraries and colleges)

We then gave each city a Family Score.

The higher the score, the better the city is for families. We also limited our results to cities with populations over 6,000 people. For West Virginia, that meant a total of 7 cities. You can download the data here.

Summary: The Best Places To Raise A Family In West Virginia

If you're looking for a breakdown of cities in West Virginia ranked by criteria that most would agree make a place a great spot for families, this is an accurate list.

Here's a look at the best cities for singles West Virginia according to the data:

1. St. Albans
2. Huntington
3. Nitro

For more West Virginia reading, check out:

• Worst Places To Live In West Virginia
• Most Dangerous Cities In West Virginia
• Best Places To Live In West Virginia

Where Are The Best Places For Families In West Virginia?