Like all states, West Virginia has certain places that are going on hard times. These West Virginia places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in West Virginia.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 25 cities in West Virginia with more than 5,000 people.
$44,727 median income · 30.4% poverty · #3 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Monongalia County, West VirginiaMorgantown, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in West Virginia thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 30,236 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in West Virginia and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$45,826 median income · 28.9% poverty · #5 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Raleigh County, West VirginiaThe second poorest city in West Virginia is Beckley.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 5th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2highest in the Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$45,100 median income · 25.7% poverty · #4 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Wayne County, West VirginiaPlacing as the third poorest city, Huntington’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 25.7% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$47,386 median income · 23.5% poverty · #6 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Harrison County, West VirginiaClarksburg ranks as the fourth poorest place in West Virginia.
The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$49,025 median income · 22.5% poverty · #8 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Wood County, West VirginiaThe fifth poorest city in West Virginia is Parkersburg.
The city ranks as having the 8th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in West Virginia.
Still not the best news for Parkersburg.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$49,048 median income · 22.5% poverty · #9 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Marshall County, West VirginiaMoundsville ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Mountain State.
It ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty and the 22nd highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$44,217 median income · 17.3% poverty · #2 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Randolph County, West VirginiaElkins places as the seventh poorest city in West Virginia.
The city of over 6,811 ranks as having the 14th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$48,590 median income · 20.5% poverty · #7 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Ohio County, West VirginiaWheeling ranks as the eighth poorest city in West Virginia.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$43,900 median income · 16.9% poverty · #1 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Mercer County, West VirginiaPrinceton couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in West Virginia; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Princeton ranks as having the 15th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in West Virginia.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$52,466 median income · 21.7% poverty · #11 lowest income in West Virginia
Located in
Fayette County, West VirginiaAnd rounding out the top ten poorest cities in West Virginia is Oak Hill.
The city of 7,937 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
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: 16.7%
West Virginia statewide median: 5.4%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in West Virginia
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in West Virginia for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 25 places with more than 5,000 people in West Virginia, we ranked each place from 1 to 25 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Morgantown, crowned the “Poorest Place In West Virginia For 2026”. The median West Virginia home is 49 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in West Virginia
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgantown | 2.00 | 30,236 | $44,727 | 30.4% | 6.2% |
| 2 | Beckley | 3.50 | 16,818 | $45,826 | 28.9% | 3.2% |
| 3 | Huntington | 3.50 | 45,787 | $45,100 | 25.7% | 6.8% |
| 4 | Clarksburg | 5.00 | 15,549 | $47,386 | 23.5% | 4.4% |
| 5 | Parkersburg | 7.00 | 29,240 | $49,025 | 22.5% | 7.9% |
| 6 | Moundsville | 7.00 | 7,869 | $49,048 | 22.5% | 3.2% |
| 7 | Elkins | 8.00 | 6,811 | $44,217 | 17.3% | 6.5% |
| 8 | Wheeling | 8.00 | 26,350 | $48,590 | 20.5% | 6.5% |
| 9 | Princeton | 8.00 | 5,736 | $43,900 | 16.9% | 1.6% |
| 10 | Oak Hill | 9.00 | 7,937 | $52,466 | 21.7% | 4.6% |
| 11 | Buckhannon | 11.00 | 5,116 | $54,615 | 21.7% | 4.7% |
| 12 | Bluefield | 11.00 | 9,387 | $49,375 | 18.5% | 4.4% |
| 13 | Nitro | 11.00 | 6,853 | $53,848 | 20.2% | 5.4% |
| 14 | Martinsburg | 13.50 | 18,904 | $59,555 | 19.8% | 5.2% |
| 15 | Fairmont | 16.50 | 18,221 | $63,032 | 17.4% | 6.7% |
| 16 | St. Albans | 16.50 | 10,522 | $53,972 | 14.1% | 5.4% |
| 17 | Dunbar | 17.00 | 7,254 | $58,379 | 14.9% | 1.8% |
| 18 | South Charleston | 18.50 | 13,457 | $63,884 | 16.9% | 7.0% |
| 19 | New Martinsville | 18.50 | 5,133 | $60,946 | 15.5% | 5.3% |
| 20 | Weirton | 19.00 | 18,647 | $59,575 | 12.6% | 7.1% |
| 21 | Charleston | 19.50 | 47,421 | $65,812 | 15.8% | 6.5% |
| 22 | Vienna | 20.00 | 10,518 | $60,388 | 10.2% | 3.5% |
| 23 | Hurricane | 23.00 | 6,855 | $71,167 | 8.5% | 3.6% |
| 24 | Charles Town | 24.00 | 7,337 | $89,263 | 6.5% | 5.9% |
| 25 | Bridgeport | 25.00 | 9,252 | $100,022 | 3.9% | 2.3% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 25 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in West Virginia for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in West Virginia, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in West Virginia.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on West Virginia? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
