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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-BECKLEY-WV · Beckley, WV 16,977 pop · income 8th pct · 17 tracts
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 Beckley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Beckley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Boyle · lowest
39,926
Boyle · lowest
39,926 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #1
Fort Yukon · near
39,934
Fort Yukon · near
39,934 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #2
Columbus · near
39,936
Columbus · near
39,936 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #3
Landfall · near
39,938
Landfall · near
39,938 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #4
Beckley · this city
39,939
Beckley · this city
39,939 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #5
Owensburg · near
39,940
Owensburg · near
39,940 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #6
Massapequa Pa… · highest
170,470
Massapequa Pa… · highest
170,470 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Beckley on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 16,977.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Beckley - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Beckley lands in the 8th percentile for household income and the 1st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
8th
percentile, household income
27th
percentile, home value
5th
percentile, median rent
1st
percentile, safety
📝 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: Beckley, WV
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 16,977 residents in Beckley, a small town within West Virginia. Households in Beckley report a median income of $39,939 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.6%. Home values in Beckley run a median of $148,800, and the median resident age is 39.0 years. About 25.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 49.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity). Beckley's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 8517.1 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts West Virginia's average monthly utility costs around $220 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Beckley'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households to within-city variation to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Beckley, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Beckley?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Beckley?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Clarksburg (15,829 residents, $46,859 income); Fairmont (18,303 residents, $60,791 income); Weirton (18,785 residents, $56,699 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Laconia, NH (16,982 residents); Massapequa Park, NY (16,985 residents); Flowing Wells, AZ (16,989 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Beckley?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
PlainCities matches 17 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Beckley growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -843 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
2020 estimate
17,216
2025 estimate
16,373
Period change
-4.9%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 10 public schools within the city match. 25.9% 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.
Poverty estimate
22.6%
Bachelor's degree+
25.9%
Matched public schools
10
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Beckley?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 8517.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 273% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
8517.1
Violent rate
604.9
Property rate
7912.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.6% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
F
City profile score · Beckley, WV
31/100
5 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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
605 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
22.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$39,939
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Beckley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 51/100 (C-) · 25.9%
Violent crime: 10/100 (F) · 605 /100k
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 22.6%
Household income: 7/100 (F) · $39,939
Where Beckley sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Beckley's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Beckley highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Beckley, WV (this city): home $148,800, crime 8,517/100k
Laconia, NH : home $308,800, crime 2,678/100k
Abington, MA : home $516,300, crime 1,593/100k
Clarksburg, WV : home $114,600, crime 2,592/100k
Fairmont, WV : home $159,100, crime 1,843/100k
Weirton, WV : home $122,800, crime 468/100k
South Charleston, WV : home $144,800, crime 6,009/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Beckley compare to other US cities?
Where Beckley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income8% higher than other cities
Home value27% pricier than other cities
Median rent5% pricier than other cities
Safety1% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at West Virginia, Beckley ranks #44 of 45 West Virginia cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Beckley 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 Beckley near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Beckley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Beckley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#249 of 330
25th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#96 of 337
72nd percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#87 of 389
78th percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#85 of 390
78th 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
8th percentile nationally for median household income · 1st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Beckley's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Beckley's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Beckley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$148,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Beckley's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,810 of 15,516
More affordable than 37% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,720 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.7×, Beckley sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,810 of 15,516 and #1,720 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$39,939Beckley, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Beckley, 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 Beckley, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
16,977
Median Income
$39,939
Median Home Value
$148,800
Median Age
39.0
Poverty Rate
22.6%
Labor force participation
49.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
8517.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
604.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
7912.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
10
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Beckley's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
17,216 residents
2021
17,032 residents
2022
16,755 residents
2023
16,635 residents
2024
16,511 residents
2025
16,373 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
2
2
0
$0.2M
2022
2
2
0
$0.5M
2023
1
1
0
$0.1M
2024
1
1
0
$0.7M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.0%
Carpool
8.6%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
2.5%
Work from Home
3.2%
Other
3.6%
Based on 6,344 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 Beckley. 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 Beckley 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 Beckley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Beckley 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, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.