Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is West Virginia a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in West Virginia.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Mountain State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of West Virginia, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 55 counties in the state.
Putnam County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in West Virginia. And you should avoid McDowell County if you can — at least according to the data.
$79,527 median income · 3.1% unemployment
$80,815 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$98,806 median income · 3.9% unemployment
$62,361 median income · 3.3% unemployment
$72,179 median income · 3.9% unemployment
$65,346 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$69,375 median income · 6.6% unemployment
$67,370 median income · 4.8% unemployment
$60,943 median income · 5.6% unemployment
$57,810 median income · 5.4% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is West Virginia’s statewide median.
West Virginia statewide median: $59,608
West Virginia statewide median: $174,412
West Virginia statewide median: 5.4%
On the map
Where West Virginia’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which West Virginia county is the best?
To give you the best county in West Virginia, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in West Virginia across each of the criteria from one to 55, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In West Virginia.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Mountain State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in West Virginia.
Read on to see why Putnam County is the best county, while McDowell County is probably in contention for being the worst county in West Virginia.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In West Virginia
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Putnam County | 57,177 | $79,527 | $243,848 |
| 2 | Berkeley County | 129,514 | $80,815 | $317,561 |
| 3 | Jefferson County | 59,260 | $98,806 | $392,032 |
| 4 | Grant County | 10,983 | $62,361 | $185,577 |
| 5 | Morgan County | 17,426 | $72,179 | $297,948 |
| 6 | Monongalia County | 107,163 | $65,346 | $262,195 |
| 7 | Mineral County | 26,854 | $69,375 | $190,103 |
| 8 | Marion County | 55,909 | $67,370 | $160,437 |
| 9 | Kanawha County | 176,537 | $60,943 | $150,833 |
| 10 | Wood County | 83,407 | $57,810 | $171,090 |
| 11 | Marshall County | 29,865 | $59,169 | $131,150 |
| 12 | Wayne County | 38,164 | $58,878 | $140,060 |
| 13 | Mercer County | 58,563 | $53,210 | $140,205 |
| 14 | Tucker County | 6,654 | $53,358 | $206,840 |
| 15 | Jackson County | 27,705 | $58,845 | $197,160 |
| 16 | Ohio County | 41,582 | $57,094 | $155,836 |
| 17 | Harrison County | 64,984 | $60,377 | $146,770 |
| 17 | Taylor County | 16,487 | $57,795 | $185,971 |
| 19 | Wetzel County | 14,078 | $56,836 | $115,125 |
| 20 | Brooke County | 21,805 | $54,316 | $128,107 |
| 21 | Hampshire County | 23,465 | $63,116 | $249,557 |
| 22 | Pendleton County | 6,043 | $64,931 | $214,776 |
| 23 | Nicholas County | 24,277 | $54,639 | $157,121 |
| 24 | Monroe County | 12,386 | $56,750 | $189,892 |
| 25 | Hancock County | 28,431 | $61,466 | $141,481 |
| 26 | Cabell County | 92,739 | $55,832 | $166,804 |
| 27 | Pleasants County | 7,521 | $60,932 | $163,014 |
| 28 | Doddridge County | 7,711 | $57,401 | $133,729 |
| 29 | Preston County | 34,160 | $61,880 | $141,559 |
| 30 | Mason County | 25,043 | $49,761 | $158,536 |
| 31 | Raleigh County | 73,195 | $52,150 | $154,732 |
| 32 | Greenbrier County | 32,386 | $48,218 | $206,360 |
| 33 | Upshur County | 23,712 | $54,338 | $151,288 |
| 34 | Wirt County | 5,053 | $49,867 | $117,804 |
| 35 | Boone County | 21,026 | $57,093 | $87,572 |
| 36 | Randolph County | 27,576 | $52,757 | $158,944 |
| 37 | Tyler County | 8,064 | $63,693 | $116,544 |
| 38 | Lewis County | 16,740 | $56,477 | $131,893 |
| 39 | Hardy County | 14,243 | $49,272 | $224,627 |
| 40 | Summers County | 11,729 | $40,699 | $157,266 |
| 41 | Fayette County | 39,519 | $53,194 | $133,029 |
| 42 | Ritchie County | 8,286 | $50,582 | $112,863 |
| 43 | Barbour County | 15,424 | $51,394 | $119,829 |
| 44 | Pocahontas County | 7,784 | $42,119 | $184,478 |
| 45 | Gilmer County | 7,288 | $47,981 | $117,899 |
| 46 | Lincoln County | 19,902 | $46,205 | $106,984 |
| 47 | Logan County | 31,418 | $49,723 | $108,155 |
| 48 | Clay County | 7,835 | $42,318 | $121,590 |
| 49 | Braxton County | 12,208 | $50,331 | $140,881 |
| 50 | Roane County | 13,786 | $45,778 | $126,879 |
| 51 | Wyoming County | 20,629 | $48,440 | $66,139 |
| 52 | Webster County | 8,144 | $43,839 | $81,680 |
| 53 | Mingo County | 22,542 | $38,119 | $80,927 |
| 53 | Calhoun County | 6,048 | $43,980 | $100,693 |
| 55 | McDowell County | 17,943 | $31,559 | $40,889 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 55 West Virginia counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In West Virginia To Call Home For 2026
Living in West Virginia can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in West Virginia are Putnam County, Berkeley County, Jefferson County, Grant County, Morgan County, Monongalia County, Mineral County, Marion County, Kanawha County, and Wood County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
