Best PlacesCore, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Core, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Core ranks 12,577th 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 Core
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.
Core's strengths and weaknesses
Where Core ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Household income$92,158 median, better than 79% of towns
Where Core ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute31.0 minutes each way, better than only 28% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Core
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Core home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,158, 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 Core's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Core
Core 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 Core.
Who works in Core, and how
Work in Core centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Core
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Core.
What the weather is like in Core, month by month
Core 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 Core
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Core
Schools across Core average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mylan Park Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Mason-dixon ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Suncrest Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Fairview Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Westwood Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Clay-battelle High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Core school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Core 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 Core against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Core
Is Core a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Core ranks 12,577th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, what local pay buys, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Core expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,956. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $92,158 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Core safe?
Yes, Core is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare Core with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Core. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Core 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.
Core detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Core: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Core: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Core: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Core: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Core 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.