Best PlacesMonongalia County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Monongalia 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.
Monongalia County ranks 470th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on an educated workforce and low disaster risk. The weaker spots are state infrastructure, civic engagement, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Monongalia 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 Monongalia County
The parts of Monongalia 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.
Brookhaven & Dellslow
More households have young kids, tree cover is thicker, and fewer homes sit empty.
Cheat Lake
Local pay stretches further and more residents vote.
Morgantown
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Monongalia County run from about the 17th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Monongalia County's strengths and weaknesses
Monongalia County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Low disaster risk and heat safety follow.
The one real hole is state infrastructure, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and the weather also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Monongalia County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
Where Monongalia County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 27% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 44% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Monongalia County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monongalia County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,899, 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 Monongalia County's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Monongalia County
Monongalia County runs younger 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 Monongalia County.
Who works in Monongalia County, and how
Work in Monongalia County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Monongalia County
Monongalia County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties and more parkland per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Monongalia County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Monongalia County growing, and who is moving in?
Monongalia County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Monongalia County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Monongalia County, month by month
Monongalia County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Monongalia County
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monongalia County
Schools across Monongalia County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cheat Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Ridgedale Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountaineer Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Suncrest Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Fairview Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Morgantown High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- University High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- North Marion High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monongalia County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monongalia 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 Monongalia County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Monongalia County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Monongalia County
Is Monongalia County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monongalia County ranks 470th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on state infrastructure and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monongalia County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,409. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $73,899 median income, cost of living beats 71% of counties.
Is Monongalia County safe?
Yes, Monongalia County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Monongalia County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Monongalia County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brookhaven & Dellslow, Cheat Lake, and Morgantown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Monongalia County good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $727 a month.
Is Monongalia County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Monongalia County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monongalia County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monongalia 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.
Monongalia County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monongalia County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monongalia County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monongalia County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monongalia County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monongalia 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.