Best PlacesSlab Fork, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Slab Fork, 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.
Slab Fork ranks 47,732nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. A weak job market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on short commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Slab Fork
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.
Slab Fork's strengths and weaknesses
Where Slab Fork ranks high
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 75% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 66% of towns
Where Slab Fork ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,676 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Slab Fork
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Slab Fork home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $36,676, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Slab Fork's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Slab Fork
Slab Fork runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Slab Fork.
Who works in Slab Fork, and how
Work in Slab Fork centers on education and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Slab Fork
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Slab Fork.
What the weather is like in Slab Fork, month by month
Slab Fork sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Slab Fork
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 172 miles away.
The best schools in and around Slab Fork
Schools across Slab Fork average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mullens Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Pineville Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Fairdale Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Independence Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Pineville Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Mullens Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Wyoming County East High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Independence High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Slab Fork school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Slab Fork 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 Slab Fork against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Slab Fork
Is Slab Fork a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Slab Fork ranks 47,732nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Slab Fork expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,110. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $36,676 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Slab Fork safe?
Slab Fork is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Slab Fork with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Slab Fork. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Slab Fork 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.
Slab Fork detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Slab Fork: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Slab Fork: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Slab Fork: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Slab Fork: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Slab Fork 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.