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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-AURORA-WV · Aurora, WV 304 pop · income 28th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Aurora
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Aurora on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bayard · lowest
30,179
Bayard · lowest
30,179 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #1
Fairfield · near
55,294
Fairfield · near
55,294 median HH income
60.5% of the leader · rank #2
Iron River · near
55,294
Iron River · near
55,294 median HH income
60.5% of the leader · rank #3
Aurora · this city
55,296
Aurora · this city
55,296 median HH income
60.5% of the leader · rank #4
Holiday City… · near
55,298
Holiday City… · near
55,298 median HH income
60.5% of the leader · rank #5
Weatherly · near
55,298
Weatherly · near
55,298 median HH income
60.5% of the leader · rank #6
Alba · highest
91,458
Alba · highest
91,458 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Aurora on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 304.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Aurora lands in the 28th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
28th
percentile, household income
5th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Aurora, WV
West Virginia's Aurora is a small town, with 304 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Aurora brings in $55,296 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 25.0%. The median resident age is 37.6 years. Educational attainment runs 12.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 48.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in West Virginia run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts West Virginia at 89.5 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $945 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $220 across West Virginia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 49.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Aurora's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Aurora, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Aurora?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Ridgeley (304 residents, $51,667 income); Pullman (305 residents, $51,908 income); Raysal (299 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hickox, GA (304 residents); Quimby, IA (304 residents); Lowell, KS (304 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Aurora?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 12.8% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Below median income · poverty 25.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
F
City profile score · Aurora, WV
35/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A
89.5 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$55,296
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
25.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Aurora profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,296
Bachelor's+ share: 14/100 (F) · 12.8%
Poverty rate: 6/100 (F) · 25.0%
How does Aurora compare to other US cities?
Here's how Aurora stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Median rent5% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Aurora against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to West Virginia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
West Virginia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Aurora near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Aurora ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Aurora only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#135 of 330
59th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#73 of 389
81st percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#222 of 390
42nd percentile in West Virginia
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within West Virginia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
28th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$55,296Aurora, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Aurora, WV median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Aurora, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)25.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
304
Median Income
$55,296
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
37.6
Poverty Rate
25.0%
Labor force participation
48.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.8%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.0%
Carpool
27.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 115 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
West Virginia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $220
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across West Virginia at $220 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $38 ).
These are West Virginia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Aurora. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
West Virginia's BEA cost-of-living index is 89.5 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Aurora is $945/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to West Virginia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a West Virginia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Aurora sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Aurora compares to similar-size West Virginia cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.