Best PlacesStephenson, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stephenson, 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.
Stephenson ranks 47,492nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stephenson
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.
Stephenson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stephenson ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 85% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Stephenson ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$38,194 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stephenson
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stephenson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $38,194, 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 Stephenson's effective rate of 0.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Stephenson
Stephenson 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 Stephenson.
Who works in Stephenson, and how
Work in Stephenson centers on health care & social and mining & oil & gas. 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 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Stephenson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stephenson.
What the weather is like in Stephenson, month by month
Stephenson sees roughly 83 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 Stephenson
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stephenson
Schools across Stephenson average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mullens Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Herndon Cons Elementary & Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Independence Middle SchoolC+ · 37% 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 Stephenson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stephenson 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 Stephenson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stephenson
Is Stephenson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stephenson ranks 47,492nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Stephenson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $77,940. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $38,194 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Stephenson safe?
Stephenson is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $435 per resident a year.
Compare Stephenson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stephenson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stephenson 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.
Stephenson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stephenson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stephenson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stephenson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stephenson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stephenson 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.