Best PlacesKeyser, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Keyser, 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.
Keyser ranks 22,219th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Keyser
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.
Keyser's strengths and weaknesses
Where Keyser ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 75% of towns
Where Keyser ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 30% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Keyser
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Keyser home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,134, 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 Keyser's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Keyser
Keyser 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 Keyser.
Who works in Keyser, and how
Work in Keyser centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Keyser
Keyser has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Keyser and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Keyser, month by month
Keyser sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Keyser
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Keyser
Schools across Keyser average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Maysville Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- New Creek Primary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Bel Air ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frankfort Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Keyser Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Frankfort High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Petersburg High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Keyser High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Keyser school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Keyser 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 Keyser against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Keyser
Is Keyser a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Keyser ranks 22,219th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, and low property taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Keyser expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,297. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $69,134 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Keyser safe?
Yes, Keyser is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
Compare Keyser with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Keyser. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Keyser 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.
Keyser detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Keyser: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Keyser: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Keyser: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Keyser: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Keyser 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.