Best PlacesHarrison County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harrison County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Harrison County ranks 1,304th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harrison County
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.
The best areas in Harrison County
The parts of Harrison County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Bridgeport
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Shinnston
Fewer homes sit empty and schools score higher.
Clarksburg
Crime runs higher and fewer residents vote.
Harrison County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Harrison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harrison County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of counties
Where Harrison County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harrison County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harrison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,856, 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 Harrison County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Harrison County
Harrison County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harrison County.
Who works in Harrison County, and how
Work in Harrison County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Harrison County
Harrison County has more late-night spots per resident than 91% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Harrison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harrison County growing, and who is moving in?
Harrison County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lewis County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harrison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harrison County, month by month
Harrison County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Harrison County
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harrison County
Schools across Harrison County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Johnson Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Salem ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Simpson Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bridgeport Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Mountaineer Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lincoln Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Bridgeport High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Robert C Byrd High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- South Harrison High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harrison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harrison County 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 Harrison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harrison County suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 83%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Harrison County
Is Harrison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harrison County ranks 1,304th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on state infrastructure and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harrison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,078. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $65,856 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Harrison County safe?
Yes, Harrison County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harrison County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 24. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Harrison County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bridgeport, Shinnston, and Clarksburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Harrison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harrison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harrison County 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.
Harrison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harrison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harrison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harrison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harrison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harrison County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.