Best PlacesKessler, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kessler, 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.
Kessler ranks 47,465th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kessler
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.
Kessler's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kessler ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 74% of towns
Where Kessler ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Household income$43,347 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kessler
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kessler home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,347, 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 Kessler's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kessler
Kessler 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 Kessler.
Who works in Kessler, and how
Work in Kessler centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kessler
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kessler.
What the weather is like in Kessler, month by month
Kessler sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Kessler
The nearest airport, Greenbrier Valley, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kessler
Schools across Kessler average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rupert ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Crichton ElementaryD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Western Greenbrier Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenbrier West High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kessler school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kessler 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 Kessler against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kessler
Is Kessler a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kessler ranks 47,465th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kessler expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $95,200. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $43,347 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Kessler safe?
Kessler is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare Kessler with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kessler. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kessler 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.
Kessler detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kessler: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kessler: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kessler: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kessler: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kessler 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.