Best PlacesSnowshoe, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Snowshoe, 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.
Snowshoe ranks 28,338th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Snowshoe
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.
Snowshoe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Snowshoe ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Snowshoe ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Snowshoe
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Snowshoe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,732, 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 Snowshoe's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Snowshoe
Snowshoe runs younger than the country, 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 Snowshoe.
Who works in Snowshoe, and how
Work in Snowshoe centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Snowshoe
Snowshoe has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Snowshoe and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Snowshoe, month by month
Snowshoe sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Snowshoe
The nearest airport, Greenbrier Valley, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Snowshoe
Schools across Snowshoe average a C−, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Marlinton Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marlinton Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Pocahontas County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Snowshoe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Snowshoe 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 Snowshoe against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Snowshoe
Is Snowshoe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Snowshoe ranks 28,338th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and walkability, and lowest on state infrastructure and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Snowshoe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,900. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $79,732 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Snowshoe safe?
Snowshoe is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
Compare Snowshoe with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Snowshoe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Snowshoe 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.
Snowshoe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Snowshoe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Snowshoe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Snowshoe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Snowshoe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Snowshoe 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.