Best PlacesPendleton County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County ranks 2,353rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pendleton County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of counties
Where Pendleton County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pendleton County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pendleton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,982, 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 Pendleton County's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 Pendleton County
Pendleton County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pendleton County.
Who works in Pendleton County, and how
Work in Pendleton County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pendleton County
Pendleton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pendleton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pendleton County growing, and who is moving in?
Pendleton County has lost about 18% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Manhattan, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pendleton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pendleton County, month by month
Pendleton County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Pendleton County
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pendleton County
Schools across Pendleton County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brandywine Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- North Fork Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Franklin Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Pendleton County Middle/high SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pendleton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pendleton 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 Pendleton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pendleton County
Is Pendleton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pendleton County ranks 2,353rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pendleton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,931. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $60,982 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Pendleton County safe?
Yes, Pendleton County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Pendleton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pendleton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pendleton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pendleton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pendleton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pendleton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pendleton 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.