Best PlacesBowlby, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bowlby, 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.
Bowlby ranks 24,567th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bowlby
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.
Bowlby's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bowlby ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Bowlby ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bowlby
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bowlby home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $59,306; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bowlby's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bowlby
Bowlby runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bowlby.
Who works in Bowlby, and how
Work in Bowlby centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to 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 5%
Life in Bowlby
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bowlby.
What the weather is like in Bowlby, month by month
Bowlby sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Bowlby
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bowlby
Schools across Bowlby average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mylan Park Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westwood Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bowlby school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bowlby 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 Bowlby against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bowlby
Is Bowlby a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bowlby ranks 24,567th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, an educated workforce, 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 Bowlby expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,311. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $59,306 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Bowlby safe?
Yes, Bowlby is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $201 per resident a year.
Compare Bowlby with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bowlby. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bowlby 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.
Bowlby detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bowlby: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bowlby: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bowlby: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bowlby: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bowlby 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.