Best PlacesDrybranch, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Drybranch, 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.
Drybranch ranks 35,317th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Drybranch
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.
Drybranch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Drybranch ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 77% of towns
- Short commute24.2 minutes each way, better than 68% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 66% of towns
Where Drybranch ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Drybranch
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Drybranch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,917, 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 Drybranch's effective rate of 0.62%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Drybranch
Drybranch runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Drybranch.
Who works in Drybranch, and how
Work in Drybranch centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Drybranch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Drybranch.
What the weather is like in Drybranch, month by month
Drybranch sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Drybranch
The nearest airport, West Virginia International Yeager, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Drybranch
Schools across Drybranch average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sharon Dawes Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Bank Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Riverside High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Drybranch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Drybranch 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 Drybranch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Drybranch
Is Drybranch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Drybranch ranks 35,317th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, a stable housing market, and cell coverage, and lowest on state infrastructure and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Drybranch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $81,600. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $69,917 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Drybranch safe?
Drybranch is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $403 per resident a year.
Compare Drybranch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Drybranch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Drybranch 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.
Drybranch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Drybranch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Drybranch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Drybranch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Drybranch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Drybranch 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.