Best PlacesPentress, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pentress, 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.
Pentress ranks 13,104th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pentress
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.
Pentress' strengths and weaknesses
Where Pentress ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$98,155 median, better than 83% of towns
Where Pentress ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pentress
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pentress home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,155, 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 Pentress' effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Pentress
Pentress runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pentress.
Who works in Pentress, and how
Work in Pentress centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pentress
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pentress.
What the weather is like in Pentress, month by month
Pentress 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 Pentress
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pentress
Schools across Pentress average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mason-dixon ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fairview Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Westwood Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Clay-battelle High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pentress school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pentress 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 Pentress against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pentress
Is Pentress a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pentress ranks 13,104th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, what local pay buys, and transit, and lowest on state infrastructure and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pentress expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,545. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $98,155 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Pentress safe?
Yes, Pentress is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
Compare Pentress with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pentress. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pentress 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.
Pentress detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pentress: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pentress: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pentress: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pentress: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pentress 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.