Best PlacesSkelton, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Skelton, 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.
Skelton ranks 12,322nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Skelton
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.
Skelton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Skelton ranks high
- Short commute13.6 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
Where Skelton ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Skelton
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Skelton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,321, 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 Skelton's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Skelton
Skelton'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 Skelton.
Who works in Skelton, and how
Work in Skelton centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Skelton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Skelton.
What the weather is like in Skelton, month by month
Skelton 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 Skelton
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Skelton
Schools across Skelton average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cranberry-prosperity ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beckley-stratton Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodrow Wilson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Skelton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Skelton 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 Skelton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Skelton
Is Skelton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Skelton ranks 12,322nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on state infrastructure and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Skelton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,400. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $69,321 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Skelton safe?
Skelton is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare Skelton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Skelton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Skelton 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.
Skelton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Skelton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Skelton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Skelton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Skelton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Skelton 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.