Best PlacesPreston County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Preston 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.
Preston County ranks 1,785th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Preston 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 Preston County
The parts of Preston 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.
Kingwood
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and streets are more walkable.
Terra Alta
More homes sit empty and health outcomes score lower.
Bruceton Mills
It is noisier and tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Preston County run from about the 12th to the 70th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Preston County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Preston County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Preston County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of counties
- Short commute31.1 minutes each way, better than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Preston County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Preston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,256, 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 Preston 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Preston County
Preston 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 Preston County.
Who works in Preston County, and how
Work in Preston County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Preston County
Preston County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Preston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Preston County growing, and who is moving in?
Preston County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Morgantown, WV metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Preston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Preston County, month by month
Preston County sees roughly 87 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 Preston County
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Preston County
Schools across Preston County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cheat Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Brookhaven Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Aurora SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Staunton River MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Central Preston Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Preston High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Preston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Preston 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 Preston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Preston County suits
Families
Schools land around the 15th 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 Preston County
Is Preston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Preston County ranks 1,785th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Preston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,786. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,256 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Preston County safe?
Yes, Preston County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Preston County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Preston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Kingwood, Terra Alta, and Bruceton Mills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Preston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Preston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Preston 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.
Preston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Preston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Preston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Preston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Preston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Preston 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.