Best PlacesMineral County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mineral County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mineral County ranks 1,291st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State infrastructure pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Mineral 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 Mineral County
The parts of Mineral 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.
New Creek
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and tree cover is thicker.
Ridgeley & Fort Ashby
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Keyser
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
Scores across Mineral County run from about the 9th to the 77th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Mineral County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mineral County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of counties
Where Mineral County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 24% of counties
- Short commute27.3 minutes each way, better than only 28% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mineral County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mineral County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,708, 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 Mineral County's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mineral County
Mineral County 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 Mineral County.
Who works in Mineral County, and how
Work in Mineral County 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 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Mineral County
Mineral County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mineral County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mineral County growing, and who is moving in?
Mineral County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Allegany County, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mineral County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mineral County, month by month
Mineral County sees roughly 81 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 Mineral County
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mineral County
Schools across Mineral County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Springfield-green Spring Elementary SchB+ · 52% proficient
- New Creek Primary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Frankfort Intermediate SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frankfort Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Romney Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Moorefield Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Hill HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Allegany HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Southern Garrett High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mineral County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mineral 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 Mineral County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Mineral County suits
Families
Schools land around the 24th percentile and crime safety beats 84%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Mineral County
Is Mineral County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mineral County ranks 1,291st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and low crime, 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 Mineral County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,948. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $70,708 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Mineral County safe?
Yes, Mineral County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mineral County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Mineral County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Creek, Ridgeley & Fort Ashby, and Keyser. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Mineral County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mineral County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mineral 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.
Mineral County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mineral County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mineral County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mineral County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mineral County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mineral 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.