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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-GHENT-WV ยท Ghent, WV 363 pop ยท income 93rd 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 Ghent
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ghent on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Henlawson ยท lowest
14,291
Henlawson ยท lowest
14,291 median HH income
8.8% of the leader ยท rank #1
New Cassel ยท near
143,196
New Cassel ยท near
143,196 median HH income
88.4% of the leader ยท rank #2
Ghent ยท this city
143,208
Ghent ยท this city
143,208 median HH income
88.4% of the leader ยท rank #3
Castine ยท near
143,229
Castine ยท near
143,229 median HH income
88.5% of the leader ยท rank #4
Countryside ยท near
143,229
Countryside ยท near
143,229 median HH income
88.5% of the leader ยท rank #5
Stockton ยท near
143,239
Stockton ยท near
143,239 median HH income
88.5% of the leader ยท rank #6
Olde Stockdale ยท highest
161,923
Olde Stockdale ยท highest
161,923 median HH income
100.0% of the leader ยท 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 Ghent 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: 363.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Ghent lands in the 93rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
93rd
percentile, household income
78th
percentile, home value
5th
percentile, median rent
๐ 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: Ghent, WV
Ghent is a small town in West Virginia, home to 363 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Ghent report a median income of $143,208 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Ghent's housing stock carries a median value of $410,200, and the median resident age is 48.5 years. About 35.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 64.2% 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: the state registers 89.5 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $945 monthly. 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 Ghent'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 housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ghent, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Ghent?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Rock Cave (364 residents, $50,481 income); West Logan (368 residents, $43,906 income); Henlawson (376 residents, $14,291 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Grubbs, AR (363 residents); Olde Stockdale, CA (363 residents); Dayton, IL (363 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.
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 58.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Ghent?
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 0.0%, 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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 35.0% 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.
Top-decile income ยท poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable ยท BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
A
City profile score ยท Ghent, WV
89/100
4 published dimensions ยท 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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income A+
$143,208
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop โฅ1,000); ACS.
Cost of living A
89.5 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 โ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ghent profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) ยท 0.0%
Household income: 94/100 (A+) ยท $143,208
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) ยท 89.5 index
Bachelor's+ share: 67/100 (B-) ยท 35.0%
How does Ghent compare to other US cities?
Where Ghent sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income93% higher than other cities
Home value78% pricier 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 Ghent 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 Ghent near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ghent ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ghent only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#2 of 330
99th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#4 of 337
99th percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#312 of 389
0th percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#49 of 390
87th 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
93rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ghent's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$410,20022nd percentilemore affordable than 22% 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 ยท 2023
Ghent's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9ร
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0ร
National rank
#5,933 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,112 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9ร, Ghent sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,933 of 15,516 and #5,112 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 รท median household income for cities with both fields and population โฅ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0โ5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$143,208Ghent, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ghent, 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 Ghent, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
363
Median Income
$143,208
Median Home Value
$410,200
Median Age
48.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
64.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
58.8%
Carpool
41.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 233 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 Ghent. 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 Ghent 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 Ghent sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ghent 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.