Best PlacesSand Run, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sand Run, 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.
Sand Run ranks 39,069th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sand Run
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.
Sand Run's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sand Run ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Sand Run ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Short commute37.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sand Run
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sand Run home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,983, 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 Sand Run's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sand Run
Sand Run 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 Sand Run.
Who works in Sand Run, and how
Work in Sand Run centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sand Run
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sand Run.
What the weather is like in Sand Run, month by month
Sand Run sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Sand Run
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sand Run
Schools across Sand Run average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington District ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Union Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- B-u Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Buckhannon Upshur High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sand Run school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sand Run 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 Sand Run against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sand Run
Is Sand Run a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sand Run ranks 39,069th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, fast internet, and tree cover, and lowest on health outcomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sand Run expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,685. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,983 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Sand Run safe?
Yes, Sand Run is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
Compare Sand Run with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sand Run. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sand Run 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.
Sand Run detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sand Run: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sand Run: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sand Run: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sand Run: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sand Run 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.