Best PlacesMaCarthur, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around MaCarthur, 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.
MaCarthur ranks 45,913th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in MaCarthur
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.
MaCarthur's strengths and weaknesses
Where MaCarthur ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Short commute21.6 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of towns
Where MaCarthur ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,886 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in MaCarthur
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median MaCarthur home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $36,886; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 MaCarthur's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in MaCarthur
MaCarthur 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 MaCarthur.
Who works in MaCarthur, and how
Work in MaCarthur centers on health care & social and construction. 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 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in MaCarthur
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across MaCarthur.
What the weather is like in MaCarthur, month by month
MaCarthur sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of MaCarthur
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around MaCarthur
Schools across MaCarthur average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hollywood ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Daniels ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Mabscott ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Park Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Shady Spring Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Independence Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Shady Spring HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Woodrow Wilson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Independence High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every MaCarthur school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
MaCarthur 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 MaCarthur against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in MaCarthur
Is MaCarthur a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, MaCarthur ranks 45,913th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, low property taxes, and walkability, and lowest on health outcomes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is MaCarthur expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,442. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $36,886 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is MaCarthur safe?
MaCarthur is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $315 per resident a year.
Compare MaCarthur with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to MaCarthur. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in MaCarthur 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.
MaCarthur detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for MaCarthur: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in MaCarthur: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of MaCarthur: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in MaCarthur: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
MaCarthur 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.