Best PlacesSummers County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Summers County, 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.
Summers County ranks 3,003rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Summers County
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.
Summers County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Summers County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of counties
- TransitBetter than 76% of counties
Where Summers County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$41,266 median, better than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute35.1 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Summers County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Summers County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $41,266, 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 Summers County's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Summers County
Summers County 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 Summers County.
Who works in Summers County, and how
Work in Summers County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Summers County
Summers County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Summers County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Summers County growing, and who is moving in?
Summers County has lost about 13% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charleston, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Summers County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Summers County, month by month
Summers County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Summers County
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Summers County
Schools across Summers County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ghent ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Mountain View Elementary & Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Smoot ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shady Spring Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Peterstown Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Pikeview Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Narrows HighA− · 63% proficient
- Shady Spring HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Greenbrier East High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Summers County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Summers County 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 Summers County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Summers County
Is Summers County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Summers County ranks 3,003rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Summers County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,433. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $41,266 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Summers County safe?
Summers County is safer than 51% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Summers County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Summers County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Summers County 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.
Summers County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Summers County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Summers County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Summers County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Summers County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Summers County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.