The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In West Virginia For 2024


The hippiest cities in West Virginia are Dunbar and Nitro for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in West Virginia.

While they aren’t necessarily in your face all the time with war protests, and the next Woodstock isn’t being planned any time soon, we thought it would be fun to look at which cities in the Mountain State where the most hippies would live.

And, after crunching the data, you know what? It was spot on.

How do you decide where the most hippies live? By the number of yoga studios, organic markets, and most importantly, where the liberals live in droves.

Using those criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where hippies might live in West Virginia, and then put out a list.

So, put on your tie-dye shirt and sandals as you go through this list with us.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Cities In West Virginia With The Largest Hispanic Population For 2024

  1. Dunbar
  2. Nitro
  3. South Charleston
  4. Morgantown
  5. Hurricane
  6. Vienna
  7. Buckhannon
  8. St. Albans
  9. Martinsburg
  10. Oak Hill

Best Places For Hippies In West Virginia Map

What’s the hippiest city in West Virginia? The hippiest city in West Virginia is Dunbar.

Read on below to see where your town ranked, Young Flower Child.

Dunbar, WV

Source: Flickr User ForestWander.com | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 7,844
% Liberal: 43.3%
More on Dunbar: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Nitro, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Jim.henderson | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,860
% Liberal: 43.3%
More on Nitro: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

South Charleston, WV

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 13,380
% Liberal: 43.3%
More on South Charleston: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Morgantown, WV

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 30,133
% Liberal: 43.9%
More on Morgantown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Hurricane, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,352
% Liberal: 30.6%
More on Hurricane: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Vienna, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Snoopywv | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,654
% Liberal: 33.1%
More on Vienna: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Buckhannon, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,646
% Liberal: 26.1%
More on Buckhannon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

St. Albans, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Acroterion | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 10,939
% Liberal: 43.3%
More on St. Albans: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Martinsburg, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Howcheng | Attribution
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 17,508
% Liberal: 38.4%
More on Martinsburg: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Oak Hill, WV

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | CC BY-SA 3.0 us
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 8,270
% Liberal: 38.5%
More on Oak Hill: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the most beatnik city in West Virginia

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in West Virginia, we used Saturday Night Science to determine what criteria defines a hippie.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Google Places API, the Census’s 2018-2022 American Community Survey, and Voter Registration data, this is the criteria we used:

  • Number of yoga studios per capita
  • Number of organic markets per capita
  • Number of pet adoption centers per capita
  • Number of vegan restaurants per capita
  • Number of thrift stores per capita
  • Each city’s liberal voting population

For the sake of getting reliable numbers on places, we counted any place within a ~4.5 mile radius of a city’s center. The average city in the United States is about 18 square miles.

All of these results are listed in a per capita basis, meaning number of stores per person in a city. Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 26 in each category, where 1 was the most hippie.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a hippie index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the highest hippie index the “Best City for Hippies In West Virginia.” We’re looking at you, Dunbar.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in hippie central. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from hippiest to most square.

Summary: The Hippies Of West Virginia

If you’re measuring the locations in West Virginia where there are lots of liberals, and there are many options for vegan food, yoga and thrift stores, this is an accurate list.

The most hippie cities in West Virginia are Dunbar, Nitro, South Charleston, Morgantown, Hurricane, Vienna, Buckhannon, St. Albans, Martinsburg, and Oak Hill.

If you’re curious, here are the most square places in West Virginia:

  1. Moundsville
  2. Weirton
  3. Bluefield

For more West Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Most Hippie Cities In West Virginia

Rank City Population % Liberal
1 Dunbar 7,844 43.3%
2 Nitro 6,860 43.3%
3 South Charleston 13,380 43.3%
4 Morgantown 30,133 43.9%
5 Hurricane 6,352 30.6%
6 Vienna 10,654 33.1%
7 Buckhannon 5,646 26.1%
8 St. Albans 10,939 43.3%
9 Martinsburg 17,508 38.4%
10 Oak Hill 8,270 38.5%
11 Princeton 6,387 25.5%
12 Beckley 17,529 26.8%
13 Elkins 7,241 34.2%
14 Charleston 50,911 43.3%
15 Clarksburg 16,437 37.2%
16 Huntington 49,053 42.2%
17 Parkersburg 31,195 33.1%
18 Keyser 5,350 26.3%
19 Bridgeport 8,316 37.2%
20 New Martinsville 5,322 37.9%
21 Grafton 5,179 32.9%
22 Fairmont 18,746 41.6%
23 Wheeling 28,129 37.9%
24 Bluefield 10,465 25.5%
25 Weirton 19,523 38.2%
26 Moundsville 8,960 34.7%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.