Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetWV-WHITE-SULPHUR-SPRINGS-WV · White Sulphur Springs, WV 2,646 pop · income 11th 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 White Sulphur Springs
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest White Sulphur Springs on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Richwood · lowest
33,614
Richwood · lowest
33,614 median HH income
17.1% of the leader · rank #1
Westfield · near
43,385
Westfield · near
43,385 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #2
Bryson City · near
43,387
Bryson City · near
43,387 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #3
White Sulphur… · this city
43,388
White Sulphur… · this city
43,388 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #4
Napier Field · near
43,393
Napier Field · near
43,393 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #5
Sun River Ter… · near
43,393
Sun River Ter… · near
43,393 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #6
Sleepy Hollow · highest
196,630
Sleepy Hollow · highest
196,630 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 White Sulphur Springs 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: 2,646.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
White Sulphur Springs - the verdict
White Sulphur Springs ranks in the 11th percentile for household income and the 50th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
11th
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
5th
percentile, median rent
50th
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: White Sulphur Springs, WV
West Virginia's White Sulphur Springs is a small town, with 2,646 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. White Sulphur Springs households earn a median of $43,388 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 20.2%. White Sulphur Springs's housing stock carries a median value of $119,600, and the median resident age is 43.2 years. About 24.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 3 residential building permits were authorized in White Sulphur Springs (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. White Sulphur Springs reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1378.0 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 puts White Sulphur Springs's yearly average temperature at 51.5°F with 41.0 inches of precipitation per year and 18.1 inches of snowfall.
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. 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 White Sulphur Springs'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 schools and households to climate and hazard context to population change to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For White Sulphur Springs, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for 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 White Sulphur Springs?
Within West Virginia, the closest population matches are Richwood (2,617 residents, $33,614 income); Inwood (2,605 residents, $82,267 income); Sissonville (2,706 residents, $58,322 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lathrop, MO (2,646 residents); Columbia, CA (2,645 residents); Louisa, KY (2,645 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.
What does the journey to work look like in White Sulphur Springs?
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 81.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What does the education layer cover for White Sulphur Springs?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 24.1% 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.
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.
What physical conditions frame life in White Sulphur Springs?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.5°F, with 41.0 inches of precipitation and 18.1 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
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 White Sulphur Springs 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 -86 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.9% 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
-3.9%
2025 estimate
2,133
2020 estimate
2,219
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in White Sulphur Springs?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 20.2%, 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
$43,388
Home value
$119,600
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in White Sulphur Springs?
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 1378.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 40% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1286.2
Violent rate
91.9
Total reported rate
1378.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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.
Violent crime B
92 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
24.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
20.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$43,388
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
White Sulphur Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 87/100 (A) · 89.5 index
Violent crime: 73/100 (B) · 92 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 46/100 (D) · 24.1%
Poverty rate: 13/100 (F) · 20.2%
Household income: 11/100 (F) · $43,388
Where White Sulphur Springs sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
White Sulphur Springs'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 - White Sulphur Springs highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
White Sulphur Springs, WV (this city): home $119,600, crime 1,378/100k
Louisa, KY : home $144,900, crime 1,054/100k
Breezy Point, MN : home $301,000, crime 142/100k
Crosslake, MN : home $540,200, crime 614/100k
Winfield, WV : home $226,000, crime 339/100k
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 White Sulphur Springs compare to other US cities?
White Sulphur Springs measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income11% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent5% pricier than other cities
Safety50% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to West Virginia alone, White Sulphur Springs ranks #18 of 45 West Virginia cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares White Sulphur Springs 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 White Sulphur Springs near the bottom of West Virginia's cities
Among the 390 West Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, White Sulphur Springs ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares White Sulphur Springs only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#230 of 330
30th percentile in West Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 390
0th percentile in West Virginia
Median Home Value
#135 of 337
60th percentile in West Virginia
Poverty Rate
#106 of 389
72nd percentile in West Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#96 of 390
75th 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
11th percentile nationally for median household income · 50th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
White Sulphur Springs's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
White Sulphur Springs'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 White Sulphur Springs's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$119,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
White Sulphur Springs's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,338 of 15,516
More affordable than 66% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,648 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, White Sulphur Springs sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,338 of 15,516 and #4,648 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
$43,388White Sulphur Springs, WV median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context White Sulphur Springs, 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 White Sulphur Springs, WV.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)24.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)20.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,646
Median Income
$43,388
Median Home Value
$119,600
Median Age
43.2
Poverty Rate
20.2%
Labor force participation
51.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1378.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
91.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1286.2
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
51.5°F
Annual Precipitation
41.0"
Annual Snowfall
18.1"
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
White Sulphur Springs's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,219 residents
2021
2,199 residents
2022
2,167 residents
2023
2,188 residents
2024
2,156 residents
2025
2,133 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.3M
2020
3
1
2
$0.2M
2021
1
1
0
$0.1M
2022
30
2
28
$1.8M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
3
3
0
$0.4M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.1%
Carpool
5.3%
Public Transit
1.3%
Walk
10.5%
Work from Home
1.4%
Based on 1,129 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 White Sulphur Springs. 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 White Sulphur Springs 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 White Sulphur Springs sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How White Sulphur Springs 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.