Best Places26369, WV Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 26369, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

26369 ranks 18,927th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.

#18,927
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 26369

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 26369 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.

26369's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%Fast internet
Top 10%Low disaster risk
Top 10%Few empty homes
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 26369 with other zip codes.

Where 26369 ranks high

  • Internet speedBetter than 95% of zip codes
  • Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
  • Low vacancyBetter than 92% of zip codes
  • Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 91% of zip codes
  • Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes

Where 26369 ranks low

  • State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
  • Health outlookBetter than only 10% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 10% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 26369

A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 26369 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,606, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$32,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$752
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $125,000 home
Median rent
$1,177
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$637
Property tax$73
Homeowners insurance$42

Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 26369's effective rate of 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 26369

26369 runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
38
younger than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
20%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1824%
18 to 3421%
35 to 4918%
50 to 6417%
65 and older20%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 26369.


Who works in 26369, and how

Work in 26369 centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
6%
below the national average
Unemployment
2.7%
below the national average
Job growth
−4.5%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Public administration26%
Retail trade14%
Health care & social11%
Education7%
Mining & oil & gas6%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 89%
  • Work from home 6%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 5%

Life in 26369

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 26369.


What the weather is like in 26369, month by month

26369 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January44°33°24°
April69°55°42°
July88°75°64°
October71°57°44°

Flying in and out of 26369

The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 80 miles away.

Nearest airport
CKB
North Central West Virginia, about 6 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
289th-busiest in the US, 7 nonstop destinations
Average drive
9 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 26369

Schools across 26369 average a C, better than 37% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 26369 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


26369 measure by measure

Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 26369 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 26369

Is 26369 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 26369 ranks 18,927th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on fast internet, low disaster risk, and few empty homes, and lowest on state infrastructure and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 26369 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $125,000. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,606 median income, cost of living beats 37% of zip codes.

Is 26369 safe?

Yes, 26369 is safer than 66% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.


Compare 26369 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 26369. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 26369 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.

26369 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 26369: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 26369: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 26369: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 26369: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

26369 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.