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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-ELKINS-WV · Elkins, WV 6,875 pop · income 16th pct · 7 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 Elkins
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Elkins on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Elkins · this city · lowest
47,746
Elkins · this city · lowest
47,746 median HH income
36.3% of the leader · rank #1
Central City · near
47,750
Central City · near
47,750 median HH income
36.3% of the leader · rank #2
Danforth · near
47,750
Danforth · near
47,750 median HH income
36.3% of the leader · rank #3
Neosho Falls · near
47,750
Neosho Falls · near
47,750 median HH income
36.3% of the leader · rank #4
Westport · near
47,750
Westport · near
47,750 median HH income
36.3% of the leader · rank #5
Savannah · highest
131,397
Savannah · highest
131,397 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Elkins 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: 6,875.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Elkins - the verdict
Elkins ranks in the 16th percentile for household income and the 69th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
16th
percentile, household income
21st
percentile, home value
5th
percentile, median rent
69th
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: Elkins, WV
6,875 people live in Elkins, West Virginia - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Elkins brings in $47,746 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 11.5%. Typical homes in Elkins are valued around $130,500, and the median resident age is 36.1 years. 30.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 3 residential building permits were authorized in Elkins (Construction Slowdown), down 50% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Elkins reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 880.6 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 46.6°F with 56.7 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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $945 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in West Virginia run around $220, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Elkins workers runs 10.7 minutes, with 67.3% driving alone and 7.8% working from home. 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 Elkins'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 reported crime to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to population change to work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Elkins, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Elkins?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 880.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 61% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 46.6°F, with 56.7 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.
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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Elkins?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Hurricane (6,891 residents, $67,083 income); Charles (6,854 residents, $94,830 income); Nitro (6,941 residents, $52,247 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Savannah, TX (6,877 residents); Litchfield Park, AZ (6,871 residents); Walden, NY (6,871 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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 Elkins growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -301 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-4.3%
2025 estimate
6,622
2020 estimate
6,923
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Elkins?
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 67.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 10.7 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
7.8%
Drive alone
67.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,267 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 30.4% 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 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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
30.4%
Poverty estimate
11.5%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Elkins?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Household income
$47,746
Home value
$130,500
Value / income
2.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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
30.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$47,746
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
478 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Elkins profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 59/100 (C) · 30.4%
Poverty rate: 34/100 (F) · 11.5%
Household income: 17/100 (F) · $47,746
Violent crime: 17/100 (F) · 478 /100k
Where Elkins sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Elkins'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 - Elkins highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Elkins, WV (this city): home $130,500, crime 881/100k
Litchfield Park, AZ : home $547,700, crime 1,046/100k
Taylor Mill, KY : home $224,500, crime 374/100k
Hurricane, WV : home $190,400, crime 1,362/100k
Nitro, WV : home $120,400, crime 3,931/100k
Dunbar, WV : home $121,100, crime 2,122/100k
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 Elkins compare to other US cities?
Here's how Elkins stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income16% higher than other cities
Home value21% pricier than other cities
Median rent5% pricier than other cities
Safety69% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just West Virginia and the picture shifts: Elkins ranks #10 of 45 West Virginia cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Elkins 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 Elkins near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Elkins ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Elkins only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#192 of 330
42nd percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#115 of 337
66th percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#183 of 389
52nd percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#69 of 390
82nd 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
16th percentile nationally for median household income · 69th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Elkins's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Elkins'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 Elkins's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$130,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 79% 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
Elkins's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,215 of 15,516
More affordable than 66% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,554 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Elkins sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,215 of 15,516 and #4,554 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$47,746Elkins, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Elkins, 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 Elkins, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)30.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,875
Median Income
$47,746
Median Home Value
$130,500
Median Age
36.1
Poverty Rate
11.5%
Labor force participation
57.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
30.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
880.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
477.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
403.0
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
46.6°F
Annual Precipitation
56.7"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Elkins's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,923 residents
2021
6,909 residents
2022
6,802 residents
2023
6,768 residents
2024
6,696 residents
2025
6,622 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
6
0
$0.7M
2020
2
2
0
$0.4M
2021
1
1
0
$0.2M
2022
24
6
18
$3.5M
2023
1
1
0
$0.2M
2024
3
3
0
$0.5M
Permit volume decreased 50% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
10.7 minutes
Drive Alone
67.3%
Carpool
12.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
6.3%
Work from Home
7.8%
Other
6.4%
Based on 3,267 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 Elkins. 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 Elkins 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 Elkins sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Elkins 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.