Best PlacesRuddle, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ruddle, 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.
Ruddle ranks 25,582nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ruddle
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.
Ruddle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ruddle ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
Where Ruddle ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ruddle
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ruddle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,171, 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 Ruddle'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ruddle
Ruddle's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ruddle.
Who works in Ruddle, and how
Work in Ruddle centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ruddle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ruddle.
What the weather is like in Ruddle, month by month
Ruddle sees roughly 76 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 Ruddle
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 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ruddle
Schools across Ruddle average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- 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 Ruddle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ruddle 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 Ruddle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ruddle
Is Ruddle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ruddle ranks 25,582nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ruddle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,439. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $75,171 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Ruddle safe?
Yes, Ruddle is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Ruddle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ruddle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ruddle 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.
Ruddle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ruddle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ruddle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ruddle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ruddle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ruddle 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.