Best PlacesBraxton County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Braxton 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.
Braxton County ranks 2,996th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Braxton 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.
Braxton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Braxton County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 77% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 66% of counties
Where Braxton County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Braxton County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Braxton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,715, 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 Braxton County's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Braxton County
Braxton County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Braxton County.
Who works in Braxton County, and how
Work in Braxton County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Braxton County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Braxton County.
Is Braxton County growing, and who is moving in?
Braxton County has lost about 16% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charleston, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Braxton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Braxton County, month by month
Braxton County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Braxton County
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Braxton County
Schools across Braxton County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Frametown Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Davis Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Sutton Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Braxton County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Braxton County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Braxton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Braxton 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 Braxton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Braxton County
Is Braxton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Braxton County ranks 2,996th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on health outcomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Braxton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,345. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $49,715 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Braxton County safe?
Braxton County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
Compare Braxton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Braxton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Braxton 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.
Braxton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Braxton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Braxton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Braxton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Braxton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Braxton 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.