Best PlacesArden, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arden, 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.
Arden ranks 33,492nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Arden
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.
Arden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arden ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
Where Arden ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute40.7 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arden
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,607, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
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 Arden's effective rate of 0.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Arden
Arden runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Arden.
Who works in Arden, and how
Work in Arden centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Arden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Arden.
What the weather is like in Arden, month by month
Arden sees roughly 70 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Arden
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Arden
Schools across Arden average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Philippi Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Anna Jarvis Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Kasson Elementary Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Taylor County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Philippi Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Grafton High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Philip Barbour High School ComplexC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arden 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 Arden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arden
Is Arden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arden ranks 33,492nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,265. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $72,607 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Arden safe?
Yes, Arden is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Arden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arden 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.
Arden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arden detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- 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.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.