Best PlacesTaylor County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Taylor 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.
Taylor County ranks 1,964th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Taylor 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.
Taylor County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Taylor County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of counties
Where Taylor County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Taylor County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Taylor County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,048, 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 Taylor County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Taylor County
Taylor County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Taylor County.
Who works in Taylor County, and how
Work in Taylor County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Taylor County
Taylor County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Taylor County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Taylor County growing, and who is moving in?
Taylor County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Barbour County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Taylor County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Taylor County, month by month
Taylor County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Taylor County
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Taylor County
Schools across Taylor County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Taylor Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Anna Jarvis Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Flemington Elementary SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Taylor County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Grafton High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Taylor County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Taylor 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 Taylor County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Taylor County
Is Taylor County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Taylor County ranks 1,964th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and low property taxes, 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 Taylor County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,321. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $63,048 median income, cost of living beats 37% of counties.
Is Taylor County safe?
Yes, Taylor County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare Taylor County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Taylor County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Taylor 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.
Taylor County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Taylor County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Taylor County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Taylor County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Taylor County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Taylor 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.