Best PlacesFreeman, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Freeman, 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.
Freeman ranks 42,676th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Freeman
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.
Freeman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Freeman ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Freeman ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$29,610 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Freeman
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Freeman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $29,610; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Freeman's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 Freeman
Freeman 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 Freeman.
Who works in Freeman, and how
Work in Freeman centers on education and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Freeman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Freeman.
What the weather is like in Freeman, month by month
Freeman sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Freeman
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Freeman
Schools across Freeman average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Montcalm Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Montcalm High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Freeman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Freeman 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 Freeman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Freeman
Is Freeman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Freeman ranks 42,676th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and fast internet, and lowest on education levels and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Freeman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,600. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $29,610 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Freeman safe?
Yes, Freeman is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Freeman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Freeman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Freeman 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.
Freeman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Freeman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Freeman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Freeman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Freeman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Freeman 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.