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Place dossier plate
SheetWV-RUPERT-WV · Rupert, WV 977 pop · income 3rd 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 Rupert
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rupert on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rupert · this city · lowest
31,875
Rupert · this city · lowest
31,875 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #1
Columbus · near
31,875
Columbus · near
31,875 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #2
Whitesburg · near
31,875
Whitesburg · near
31,875 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #3
Casas Adobes · near
31,875
Casas Adobes · near
31,875 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #4
Pittsburg · near
31,875
Pittsburg · near
31,875 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #5
North Hills · highest
143,125
North Hills · highest
143,125 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Rupert 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: 977.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Rupert lands in the 3rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
3rd
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: Rupert, WV
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 977 residents in Rupert, a small town within West Virginia. The typical household in Rupert brings in $31,875 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 45.5%. Rupert's housing stock carries a median value of $98,100, and the median resident age is 33.7 years. About 5.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 48.1°F with 53.3 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 Rupert'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 climate and hazard context to work and mobility to housing and income 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 Rupert, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Rupert?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 48.1°F, with 53.3 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Rupert?
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 81.4%. 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 Rupert?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 45.5%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Rupert?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are North Hills (971 residents, $143,125 income); Sprague (971 residents, $59,643 income); Clendenin (994 residents, $49,423 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ola, AR (977 residents); Hot Sulphur Springs, CO (977 residents); Underwood, IA (977 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.
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 Rupert 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 -50 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.7% 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.
Period change
-5.7%
2025 estimate
822
2020 estimate
872
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 45.5% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
89.5 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, West Virginia average
F
City profile score · Rupert, WV
22/100
4 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.
Household income F
$31,875
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
45.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
5.9%
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).
Rupert profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $31,875
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 45.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 5.9%
How does Rupert compare to other US cities?
Here's how Rupert stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income3% 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 Rupert 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 Rupert near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rupert ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rupert only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#286 of 330
13th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#195 of 337
42nd percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#22 of 389
94th percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#305 of 390
22nd 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
3rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Rupert's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$98,100Among 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
Rupert's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,088 of 15,516
More affordable than 54% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,930 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Rupert sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,088 of 15,516 and #5,930 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$31,875Rupert, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Rupert, 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 Rupert, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)5.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)45.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
977
Median Income
$31,875
Median Home Value
$98,100
Median Age
33.7
Poverty Rate
45.5%
Labor force participation
53.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
5.9%
Climate
Avg Temperature
48.1°F
Annual Precipitation
53.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Rupert's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
872 residents
2021
864 residents
2022
852 residents
2023
844 residents
2024
831 residents
2025
822 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
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
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
81.4%
Carpool
16.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
2.0%
Based on 350 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 Rupert. 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 Rupert 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 Rupert sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Rupert 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.