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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-GLASGOW-WV · Glasgow, WV 800 pop · income 22nd 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 Glasgow
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Glasgow on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gallipolis Fe… · lowest
44,250
Gallipolis Fe… · lowest
44,250 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #1
Jasmine Estat… · near
51,301
Jasmine Estat… · near
51,301 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #2
Lacy-Lakeview · near
51,301
Lacy-Lakeview · near
51,301 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #3
Park Hills · near
51,303
Park Hills · near
51,303 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #4
Glasgow · this city
51,304
Glasgow · this city
51,304 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #5
Sterling · near
51,304
Sterling · near
51,304 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #6
Klondike Corn… · highest
200,143
Klondike Corn… · highest
200,143 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 Glasgow 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: 800.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Glasgow places in the 22nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
22nd
percentile, household income
9th
percentile, home value
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: Glasgow, WV
West Virginia's Glasgow is a small town, with 800 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Glasgow report a median income of $51,304 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 20.9%. Glasgow's housing stock carries a median value of $96,900, and the median resident age is 55.7 years. 12.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 38.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $945 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $220 across West Virginia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Glasgow'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Glasgow, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Glasgow?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 20.9%, 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
What does the journey to work look like in Glasgow?
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 80.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Glasgow?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Elkview (800 residents, $71,908 income); Davis (796 residents, $46,488 income); Lavalette (795 residents, $68,015 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Unalakleet, AK (800 residents); Floyd, AR (800 residents); Klondike Corner, NH (800 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.
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 -25 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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
$51,304
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
20.9%
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).
Glasgow profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Household income: 22/100 (F) · $51,304
Bachelor's+ share: 13/100 (F) · 12.4%
Poverty rate: 12/100 (F) · 20.9%
How does Glasgow compare to other US cities?
Glasgow measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income22% higher than other cities
Home value9% 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 Glasgow 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 Glasgow near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Glasgow ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Glasgow only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#168 of 330
49th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#199 of 337
41st percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#100 of 389
74th percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#233 of 390
39th 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
22nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Glasgow's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$96,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 91% 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
Glasgow's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,263 of 15,516
More affordable than 92% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,218 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.9×, Glasgow sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,263 of 15,516 and #1,218 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
$51,304Glasgow, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Glasgow, 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 Glasgow, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)20.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)38.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
800
Median Income
$51,304
Median Home Value
$96,900
Median Age
55.7
Poverty Rate
20.9%
Labor force participation
38.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.4%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Glasgow's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
707 residents
2021
701 residents
2022
694 residents
2023
689 residents
2024
685 residents
2025
682 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.2M
2021
1
1
0
$0.2M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.1%
Carpool
14.3%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.0%
Based on 272 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 Glasgow. 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 Glasgow 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 Glasgow sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Glasgow 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, 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.