Best PlacesRand, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rand, 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.
Rand ranks 46,053rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rand
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.
Rand's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rand ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 69% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 67% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 67% of towns
Where Rand ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rand
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rand home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,670, 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 Rand's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rand
Rand 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 Rand.
Who works in Rand, and how
Work in Rand centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Rand
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rand.
What the weather is like in Rand, month by month
Rand sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Rand
The nearest airport, West Virginia International Yeager, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rand
Schools across Rand average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chamberlain Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Marmet Elementary SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Horace Mann Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- East Bank Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Capital High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Riverside High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rand school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rand 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 Rand against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rand
Is Rand a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rand ranks 46,053rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on health outcomes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rand expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $87,600. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $50,670 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Rand safe?
Rand is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $583 per resident a year.
Compare Rand with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rand. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rand 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.
Rand detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rand: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rand: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rand: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rand: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rand 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.