Best PlacesLeft Hand, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Left Hand, 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.
Left Hand ranks 45,607th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Left Hand
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.
Left Hand's strengths and weaknesses
Where Left Hand ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 68% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 68% of towns
Where Left Hand ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Short commute38.9 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Left Hand
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Left Hand home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,907, 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 Left Hand's effective rate of 0.31%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Left Hand
Left Hand 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 Left Hand.
Who works in Left Hand, and how
Work in Left Hand centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Left Hand
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Left Hand.
What the weather is like in Left Hand, month by month
Left Hand sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Left Hand
The nearest airport, West Virginia International Yeager, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Left Hand
Schools across Left Hand average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Geary Elementary/middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Walton Elementary/middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Spencer Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spencer Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Roane County HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Left Hand school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Left Hand 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 Left Hand against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Left Hand
Is Left Hand a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Left Hand ranks 45,607th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on state infrastructure and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Left Hand expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,811. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $50,907 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Left Hand safe?
Yes, Left Hand is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Left Hand with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Left Hand. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Left Hand 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.
Left Hand detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Left Hand: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Left Hand: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Left Hand: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Left Hand: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Left Hand 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.