Best PlacesSouth Charleston, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Charleston, 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.
South Charleston ranks 24,642nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Charleston
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.
South Charleston's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Charleston ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where South Charleston ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Charleston
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Charleston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,412, 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 South Charleston's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Charleston
South Charleston 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 South Charleston.
Who works in South Charleston, and how
Work in South Charleston centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Charleston
South Charleston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Charleston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Charleston, month by month
South Charleston sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of South Charleston
The nearest airport, West Virginia International Yeager, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Charleston
Schools across South Charleston average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kenna Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Weberwood Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Montrose Elementary SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Adams Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Dunbar Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- South Charleston Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- George Washington High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Capital High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- South Charleston High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Charleston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Charleston 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 South Charleston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Charleston
Is South Charleston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Charleston ranks 24,642nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on state infrastructure and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Charleston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,946. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $69,412 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is South Charleston safe?
South Charleston is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
Compare South Charleston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Charleston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Charleston 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.
South Charleston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Charleston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Charleston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Charleston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Charleston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Charleston 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.