Best PlacesPool, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pool, 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.
Pool ranks 39,786th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pool
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.
Pool's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pool ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
Where Pool ranks low
- Short commute42.6 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pool
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pool home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,424, 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 Pool's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 Pool
Pool's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pool.
Who works in Pool, and how
Work in Pool centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pool
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pool.
What the weather is like in Pool, month by month
Pool 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 Pool
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pool
Schools across Pool average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mt Nebo Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Panther Creek Elementary SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Mt Lookout Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Summersville Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Nicholas County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pool school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pool 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 Pool against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pool
Is Pool a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pool ranks 39,786th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on long commutes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pool expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,898. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $54,424 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Pool safe?
Yes, Pool is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $190 per resident a year.
Compare Pool with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pool. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pool 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.
Pool detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pool: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pool: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pool: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pool: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pool 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.