Best PlacesFola, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fola, 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.
Fola ranks 50,120th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fola
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.
Fola's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fola ranks high
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 71% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 66% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 62% of towns
Where Fola ranks low
- Short commute65.0 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fola
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fola home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $27,784, 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 Fola's effective rate of 1.54%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fola
Fola runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Fola.
Who works in Fola, and how
Work in Fola centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fola
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fola.
What the weather is like in Fola, month by month
Fola sees roughly 68 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 Fola
The nearest airport, West Virginia International Yeager, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fola
Schools across Fola average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clay Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Lizemore Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Zela Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clay Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Summersville Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Nicholas County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Clay County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fola school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fola 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 Fola against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fola
Is Fola a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fola ranks 50,120th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on long commutes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fola expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $62,130. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $27,784 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Fola safe?
Fola is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
Compare Fola with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fola. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fola 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.
Fola detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fola: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fola: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fola: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fola: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fola 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.