Gayest places in West Virginia research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to research the cities in West Virginia with the highest percent of same-sex households for 2026. The data comes from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year vintage, which counts same-sex married spouses and same-sex unmarried partners at the city level.
The city with the highest rate of same-sex houesholds in West Virginia is Chester. 7.84% of households in Chester are gay.
The city in West Virginia with the most same-sex houesholds is Huntington with 241 gay households.
West Virginia is the 40th most gay in the United States.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
An estimated 0.68% of West Virginia residents are gay.
That means there are a total of 4,938 gay households in The Mountain State.
Our goal with this post is to use Saturday Night Science and data to determine the gayest cities in West Virginia.
After analyzing 51 cities with over 1,000 households, we’ve determined these are The Gayest Cities in West Virginia for 2026.
The 10 Gayest Places In West Virginia For 2026
- Chester
- Bluefield
- Summersville
- Buckhannon
- Princeton
- Point Pleasant
- Wellsburg
- Westover
- South Charleston
- New Martinsville
What’s the gayest place in West Virginia? According to the facts, Chester is the gayest place in West Virginia for 2026.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
For more West Virginia reading, check out:
- Gayest cities in the United States
- Best Places To Live In West Virginia
- Cheapest Places To Live In West Virginia
- Most Dangerous Cities In West Virginia
The 10 Gayest Cities In West Virginia For 2026
1. Chester
/10
Households: 1,135
Gay Households: 89 (6th highest)
% Gay Households: 7.84% (1st highest)
More on Chester: Movers
/10
Households: 4,027
Gay Households: 138 (2nd highest)
% Gay Households: 3.43% (2nd highest)
More on Bluefield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Households: 1,902
Gay Households: 33 (14th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.74% (4th highest)
More on Buckhannon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Households: 2,826
Gay Households: 49 (12th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.73% (5th highest)
More on Princeton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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7. Wellsburg
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Households: 1,012
Gay Households: 16 (28th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.58% (7th highest)
More on Wellsburg: Crime | Movers
/10
Households: 1,912
Gay Households: 30 (18th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.57% (8th highest)
More on Westover: Data | Movers
/10
Households: 6,189
Gay Households: 92 (5th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.49% (9th highest)
More on South Charleston: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Households: 2,220
Gay Households: 32 (16th highest)
% Gay Households: 1.44% (10th highest)
More on New Martinsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
How do you determine the best cities for same-sex households in West Virginia for 2026
In order to rank the gayest cities in West Virginia, we used Saturday Night Science and the 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the U.S. Census. We looked at:
- Percentage of all households that are unmarried, same sex partners
We limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 1,000 households.
We ranked each place from 1 to 51 with the city containing the highest percentage of unmarried, same sex partners households being the most gay.
In the end, ended up being the the most gay place with 7.84% gay households.
Skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from gayest to straighest.
We updated this report for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the gayest places in West Virginia.
There You Have It – The Most LGBT Friendly Cities In West Virginia For 2026
If you’re looking at the number of gay households in West Virginia, this is an accurate list.
The gayest cities in West Virginia are .
If you’re curious enough, here are the least gay places in West Virginia:
- Pleasant Valley
- Follansbee
- Williamson
For more West Virginia reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In West Virginia
- Safest Places In West Virginia
- Worst Places To Live In West Virginia
- Most Expensive Places To Live In West Virginia
Table: Gayest Places To Live In West Virginia
| Rank | City | Households | % Gay Households |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chester | 1,135 | 7.84% |
| 2 | Bluefield | 4,027 | 3.43% |
| 3 | Summersville | 1,457 | 1.78% |
| 4 | Buckhannon | 1,902 | 1.74% |
| 5 | Princeton | 2,826 | 1.73% |
| 6 | Point Pleasant | 1,962 | 1.63% |
| 7 | Wellsburg | 1,012 | 1.58% |
| 8 | Westover | 1,912 | 1.57% |
| 9 | South Charleston | 6,189 | 1.49% |
| 10 | New Martinsville | 2,220 | 1.44% |
| 11 | Nitro | 2,828 | 1.38% |
| 12 | Ravenswood | 1,714 | 1.23% |
| 13 | Huntington | 19,753 | 1.22% |
| 14 | Morgantown | 11,946 | 1.06% |
| 15 | Fairmont | 8,017 | 1.0% |
| 16 | Beckley | 7,050 | 0.81% |
| 17 | Moundsville | 3,414 | 0.79% |
| 18 | Kingwood | 1,300 | 0.77% |
| 19 | Weston | 1,621 | 0.74% |
| 20 | Elkins | 2,965 | 0.71% |
| 21 | Dunbar | 3,688 | 0.7% |
| 22 | Martinsburg | 7,963 | 0.67% |
| 23 | Williamstown | 1,408 | 0.64% |
| 24 | Charleston | 21,116 | 0.63% |
| 25 | Wheeling | 12,614 | 0.63% |
| 26 | Oak Hill | 3,344 | 0.6% |
| 27 | Bethlehem | 1,088 | 0.55% |
| 28 | St. Albans | 4,667 | 0.49% |
| 29 | Clarksburg | 6,753 | 0.43% |
| 30 | Parkersburg | 13,313 | 0.42% |
| 31 | Vienna | 4,699 | 0.38% |
| 32 | Winfield | 1,072 | 0.37% |
| 33 | Weirton | 8,707 | 0.37% |
| 34 | Madison | 1,073 | 0.28% |
| 35 | Bridgeport | 4,099 | 0.22% |
| 36 | Charles Town | 2,799 | 0.21% |
| 37 | Milton | 1,148 | 0.0% |
| 38 | Petersburg | 1,015 | 0.0% |
| 39 | Hurricane | 2,914 | 0.0% |
| 40 | Barboursville | 1,496 | 0.0% |
| 41 | White Sulphur Springs | 1,205 | 0.0% |
| 42 | Kenova | 1,353 | 0.0% |
| 43 | Keyser | 2,069 | 0.0% |
| 44 | Fayetteville | 1,353 | 0.0% |
| 45 | Lewisburg | 1,922 | 0.0% |
| 46 | Philippi | 1,224 | 0.0% |
| 47 | Grafton | 1,898 | 0.0% |
| 48 | Ripley | 1,485 | 0.0% |
| 49 | Williamson | 1,405 | 0.0% |
| 50 | Follansbee | 1,372 | 0.0% |
| 51 | Pleasant Valley | 1,481 | 0.0% |