Best PlacesBarbour County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Barbour County, 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.
Barbour County ranks 2,373rd of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Barbour County
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.
Barbour County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barbour County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 88% of counties
Where Barbour County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 7% of counties
- Household income$53,001 median, better than only 13% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Barbour County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barbour County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,001, 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 Barbour County's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barbour County
Barbour County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Barbour County.
Who works in Barbour County, and how
Work in Barbour County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Barbour County
Barbour County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Barbour County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Barbour County growing, and who is moving in?
Barbour County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Harrison County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Barbour County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Barbour County, month by month
Barbour County 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 Barbour County
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barbour County
Schools across Barbour County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Junior ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
- Philippi Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Kasson Elementary Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Belington Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Philippi Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Bridgeport High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Elkins High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- South Harrison High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barbour County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barbour County 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 Barbour County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Barbour County
Is Barbour County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barbour County ranks 2,373rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barbour County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,975. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $53,001 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Barbour County safe?
Barbour County is safer than 52% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
Compare Barbour County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barbour County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barbour County 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.
Barbour County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barbour County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barbour County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barbour County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barbour County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barbour County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.