Best PlacesCentral Station, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Station, 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.
Central Station ranks 38,687th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central Station
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.
Central Station's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Station ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 73% of towns
Where Central Station ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central Station
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Station home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,500, 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 Central Station's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Central Station
Central Station's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Central Station.
Who works in Central Station, and how
Work in Central Station centers on professional & technical and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Central Station
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Central Station.
What the weather is like in Central Station, month by month
Central Station sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 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 | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Central Station
The nearest airport, Mid-Ohio Valley Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Station
Schools across Central Station average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Doddridge County Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doddridge County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Doddridge County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Station school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Station 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 Central Station against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Central Station
Is Central Station a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Station ranks 38,687th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, a stable housing market, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Station expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,779. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $59,500 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Central Station safe?
Central Station is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Central Station with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Station. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Station 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.
Central Station detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Station: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Station: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Station: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Station: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Station 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.