10 Best Counties To Live In West Virginia [2023]

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.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Mountain State for 2023.

The 10 Best Counties To Live In West Virginia For 2023

Putnam County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in West Virginia. And you should avoid Logan County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in West Virginia. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in West Virginia and the cheapest places to live in West Virginia.

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

The Best Counties To Live In West Virginia For 2023

1. Putnam County

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

Biggest Place: Teays Valley
Population: 57,385
Median Income: $68,740 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $176,300 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.6% (5th best)
More on Putnam County: Data

2. Jefferson County

Source: Wikipedia User Acroterion | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Charles Town
Population: 57,542
Median Income: $86,711 (best)
Median Home Price: $276,700 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (2best)
More on Jefferson County: Data

3. Mineral County

Source: Wikipedia User Alainmoscoso | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Keyser
Population: 27,045
Median Income: $57,345 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $151,700 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (24th best)
More on Mineral County: Data

4. Berkeley County

Source: Wikipedia User Howcheng | Attribution

Biggest Place: Martinsburg
Population: 120,460
Median Income: $68,101 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $196,700 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.8% (9th best)
More on Berkeley County: Data

5. Ohio County

Source: Wikipedia User Brandon W. Holmes | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Wheeling
Population: 42,443
Median Income: $51,516 (16th best)
Median Home Price: $135,300 (14th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (15th best)
More on Ohio County: Data

6. Monongalia County

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Morgantown
Population: 105,695
Median Income: $56,466 (8th best)
Median Home Price: $221,600 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (23rd best)
More on Monongalia County: Data

7. Morgan County

Biggest Place: Bath (Berkeley Springs)
Population: 17,144
Median Income: $56,616 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $190,900 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (32nd best)
More on Morgan County: Data

8. Brooke County

Source: Wikipedia User Jeremywagg (original), Yassie (derivative work) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Weirton
Population: 22,603
Median Income: $51,210 (17th best)
Median Home Price: $93,500 (45th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (10th best)
More on Brooke County: Data

9. Doddridge County

Biggest Place: West Union
Population: 7,929
Median Income: $58,750 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $135,900 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (11th best)
More on Doddridge County: Data

10. Wood County

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Parkersburg
Population: 84,678
Median Income: $50,231 (22nd best)
Median Home Price: $129,600 (18th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (13th best)
More on Wood County: Data

Best Counties To Live In West Virginia

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 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in West Virginia.

Read on to see why Putnam County is the best county, while Logan County is probably in contention for being the worst county in West Virginia.

Summary: The Best Counties In West Virginia To Call Home For 2023

Living in West Virginia can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

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.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in West Virginia according to the data:

Logan County
Mingo County
Mcdowell County

For more West Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In West Virginia

Rank	County	Population	Median Income	Median Home Price
1	Putnam County	57,385	$68,740	$176,300
2	Jefferson County	57,542	$86,711	$276,700
3	Mineral County	27,045	$57,345	$151,700
4	Berkeley County	120,460	$68,101	$196,700
5	Ohio County	42,443	$51,516	$135,300
6	Monongalia County	105,695	$56,466	$221,600
7	Morgan County	17,144	$56,616	$190,900
8	Brooke County	22,603	$51,210	$93,500
9	Doddridge County	7,929	$58,750	$135,900
10	Wood County	84,678	$50,231	$129,600
11	Marshall County	30,813	$52,371	$116,800
12	Marion County	56,256	$55,094	$125,300
13	Jackson County	28,011	$53,165	$137,800
14	Tucker County	6,822	$49,808	$137,300
15	Kanawha County	181,953	$50,574	$118,200
16	Hardy County	14,269	$46,592	$141,500
17	Harrison County	66,222	$54,124	$124,800
18	Pleasants County	7,623	$58,433	$117,100
19	Mason County	25,667	$49,957	$108,700
20	Preston County	34,266	$55,755	$128,800
21	Tyler County	8,397	$50,601	$96,000
22	Pendleton County	6,249	$46,506	$135,600
23	Taylor County	16,727	$52,823	$120,000
24	Wirt County	5,264	$49,441	$97,700
25	Grant County	11,063	$47,224	$137,400
26	Hampshire County	23,214	$50,890	$157,600
27	Hancock County	29,223	$52,062	$97,800
28	Randolph County	28,150	$47,343	$116,100
29	Upshur County	23,965	$44,470	$131,400
30	Lewis County	16,966	$45,345	$119,700
31	Monroe County	12,492	$47,417	$123,300
32	Cabell County	94,622	$43,779	$129,900
33	Wetzel County	14,629	$47,611	$100,100
34	Greenbrier County	33,307	$41,694	$128,900
35	Mercer County	59,892	$43,293	$104,100
36	Wayne County	39,337	$45,591	$105,100
37	Raleigh County	74,929	$43,150	$112,300
38	Nicholas County	24,770	$42,946	$93,700
39	Pocahontas County	8,006	$37,225	$130,200
40	Lincoln County	20,625	$46,683	$82,900
41	Barbour County	15,600	$42,260	$106,600
42	Boone County	22,059	$50,598	$80,100
43	Summers County	12,125	$41,077	$104,500
44	Ritchie County	8,676	$45,184	$97,100
45	Gilmer County	7,516	$45,870	$82,000
46	Wyoming County	21,581	$44,630	$75,500
47	Calhoun County	6,420	$37,428	$103,700
48	Fayette County	41,056	$45,988	$95,700
49	Roane County	14,129	$38,608	$107,200
50	Webster County	8,415	$37,720	$75,900
51	Clay County	8,176	$37,197	$87,700
52	Braxton County	12,702	$42,519	$88,700
53	Mcdowell County	19,334	$30,127	$43,700
54	Mingo County	23,821	$35,349	$83,000
55	Logan County	32,786	$38,493	$92,100