Best PlacesSpeedway, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Speedway, 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.
Speedway ranks 39,799th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Speedway
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.
Speedway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Speedway ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 71% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 101 pleasant days a year, better than 69% of towns
Where Speedway ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Household income$50,640 median, better than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Speedway
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Speedway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,640, 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 Speedway's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Speedway
Speedway runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Speedway.
Who works in Speedway, and how
Work in Speedway centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Speedway
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Speedway.
What the weather is like in Speedway, month by month
Speedway sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Speedway
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Speedway
Schools across Speedway average a C−, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Athens Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Sun Valley Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pikeview Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Pikeview High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Speedway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Speedway 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 Speedway against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Speedway
Is Speedway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Speedway ranks 39,799th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, fast internet, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Speedway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,887. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $50,640 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Speedway safe?
Speedway is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $332 per resident a year.
Compare Speedway with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Speedway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Speedway 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.
Speedway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Speedway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Speedway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Speedway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Speedway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Speedway 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.