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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-CHARLESTON-WV · Charleston, WV 47,918 pop · income 42nd pct · 57 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 Charleston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Charleston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Morgantown · lowest
42,245
Morgantown · lowest
42,245 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #1
Melbourne · near
64,504
Melbourne · near
64,504 median HH income
69.1% of the leader · rank #2
Orleans · near
64,504
Orleans · near
64,504 median HH income
69.1% of the leader · rank #3
Blountville · near
64,509
Blountville · near
64,509 median HH income
69.1% of the leader · rank #4
Charleston · this city
64,512
Charleston · this city
64,512 median HH income
69.2% of the leader · rank #5
Hoyt Lakes · near
64,514
Hoyt Lakes · near
64,514 median HH income
69.2% of the leader · rank #6
Ocoee · highest
93,292
Ocoee · highest
93,292 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 Charleston 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: 47,918.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Charleston - the verdict
Nationally, Charleston sits in the 42nd percentile for household income and the 9th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
42nd
percentile, household income
39th
percentile, home value
5th
percentile, median rent
9th
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: Charleston, WV
West Virginia's Charleston is a small city, with 47,918 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $64,512 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.7%. Typical homes in Charleston are valued around $187,300, and the median resident age is 42.6 years. Educational attainment runs 44.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 31 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Slowing), down 9% from five years earlier. Charleston's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 3662.5 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 54.4°F with 48.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in West Virginia run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, West Virginia scores 89.5 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $945 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts West Virginia's average monthly utility costs around $220 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.2 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Charleston'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 population change to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to housing and income to schools and households to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Charleston, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Charleston?
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 Huntington (46,189 residents, $43,146 income); Morgantown (30,273 residents, $42,245 income); Parkersburg (29,461 residents, $44,675 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Minot, ND (47,922 residents); North Highlands, CA (47,900 residents); Ocoee, FL (47,885 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.
Is Charleston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2,529 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 31 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Charleston?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 54.4°F, with 48.2 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for West Virginia is 49.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
What can 57 Census tracts reveal inside Charleston?
PlainCities matches 57 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Charleston?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.7%. 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.
Drive alone
70.7%
Work from home
11.2%
Public transit
2.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 21,906 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Charleston?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3662.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 61% 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
3662.5
Violent rate
542.7
Property rate
3119.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Charleston?
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 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.9×
Home value
$187,300
Household income
$64,512
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Charleston?
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 44.1% 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
11.7%
Bachelor's degree+
44.1%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 11.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
D
City profile score · Charleston, WV
49/100
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 B+
44.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$64,512
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
543 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Charleston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 79/100 (B+) · 44.1%
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,512
Poverty rate: 33/100 (F) · 11.7%
Violent crime: 13/100 (F) · 543 /100k
Where Charleston sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Charleston'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 - Charleston highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Charleston, WV (this city): home $187,300, crime 3,663/100k
Minot, ND : home $254,400, crime 1,722/100k
Roswell, NM : home $139,200, crime 3,357/100k
San Luis Obispo, CA : home $896,500, crime 3,093/100k
Prescott Valley, AZ : home $376,300, crime 994/100k
Huntington, WV : home $118,800, crime 4,403/100k
Morgantown, WV : home $238,200, crime 2,170/100k
Parkersburg, WV : home $113,900, crime 3,477/100k
Wheeling, WV : home $142,500, crime 2,975/100k
Weirton, WV : home $122,800, crime 468/100k
How does Charleston compare to other US cities?
Where Charleston sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income42% higher than other cities
Home value39% pricier than other cities
Median rent5% pricier than other cities
Safety9% 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, Charleston ranks #39 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 Charleston 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 Charleston near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Charleston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Charleston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#84 of 330
75th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#60 of 337
82nd percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#182 of 389
53rd percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#25 of 390
94th 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
42nd percentile nationally for median household income · 9th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Charleston's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Charleston'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 Charleston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$187,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 61% 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
Charleston's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,153 of 15,516
More affordable than 60% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#768 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.9×, Charleston sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,153 of 15,516 and #768 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$64,512Charleston, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Charleston, 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 Charleston, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)44.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
47,918
Median Income
$64,512
Median Home Value
$187,300
Median Age
42.6
Poverty Rate
11.7%
Labor force participation
54.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
44.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3662.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
542.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3119.9
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
54.4°F
Annual Precipitation
48.2"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Charleston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
48,646 residents
2021
47,983 residents
2022
47,253 residents
2023
46,798 residents
2024
46,431 residents
2025
46,117 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
31
housing units authorized
Single-Family
31
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
34
34
0
$5.0M
2020
43
39
4
$6.8M
2021
9
7
2
$1.7M
2022
6
4
2
$1.7M
2023
4
4
0
$4.9M
2024
31
31
0
$5.4M
Permit volume decreased 9% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.7%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
2.1%
Walk
5.4%
Work from Home
11.2%
Other
2.1%
Based on 21,906 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 Charleston. 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 Charleston 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 Charleston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Charleston 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.