Best PlacesUpper Tract, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Tract, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Upper Tract ranks 15,319th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Tract
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.
Upper Tract's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Tract ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$92,104 median, better than 79% of towns
Where Upper Tract ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Tract
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Tract home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,104, 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 Upper Tract's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Tract
Upper Tract runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Upper Tract.
Who works in Upper Tract, and how
Work in Upper Tract centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Upper Tract
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Tract.
What the weather is like in Upper Tract, month by month
Upper Tract sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Upper Tract
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Tract
Schools across Upper Tract average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Petersburg Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- North Fork Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Franklin Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Petersburg High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Pendleton County Middle/high SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Tract school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Tract 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 Upper Tract against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Tract
Is Upper Tract a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Tract ranks 15,319th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, quiet, and a strong job market, and lowest on state infrastructure and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Tract expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,900. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $92,104 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Upper Tract safe?
Yes, Upper Tract is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $113 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Tract with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Tract. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Tract 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.
Upper Tract detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Tract: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Tract: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Tract: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Tract: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Tract 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.