Best PlacesGaines, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gaines, 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.
Gaines ranks 43,318th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gaines
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.
Gaines' strengths and weaknesses
Where Gaines ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
Where Gaines ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute41.8 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gaines
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gaines home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,833, 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 Gaines' effective rate of 0.30%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Gaines
Gaines 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 Gaines.
Who works in Gaines, and how
Work in Gaines centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Gaines
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gaines.
What the weather is like in Gaines, month by month
Gaines sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Gaines
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gaines
Schools across Gaines average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rock Cave ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
- Hacker Valley Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- B-u Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Buckhannon Upshur High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gaines school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gaines 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 Gaines against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gaines
Is Gaines a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gaines ranks 43,318th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gaines expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,668. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $48,833 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Gaines safe?
Yes, Gaines is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
Compare Gaines with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gaines. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gaines 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.
Gaines detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gaines: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gaines: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gaines: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gaines: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gaines 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.