Safest Places to Live in West Virginia of March 2024

ElitePersonalFinance
Last Update: March 11, 2023 Living

West Virginia is located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States. You might wonder why this is considered as the south, and you are right. Geographically speaking, it is not the south of the US. Rather, this division was made because the states in the Southern US were members of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

West Virginia borders its older sister Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. With over 1.8 million residents, it is the 38th most populous state in the US. The capital and the largest city is Charleston, which has approximately 50,000 residents.

West Virginia is a unique state because it was separated from Virginia during the Civil War. It became a state in 1861 and was a key border state during the Civil War. West Virginia is known for its mountains and rolling hills, logging, coal mining industries, political and labor history, caving, scientific research, skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and hunting.

Ranking Criteria

ElitePersonalFinance extracted the latest data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:

Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000

This way, safer cities got the lowest score, and those more vulnerable to crimes got higher scores.

The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI and those under 3,000 residents were not included in the list.

20 Safest Places in West Virginia of March 2024

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Weirton1854290,49
2Barboursville4 25630,70
3Buckhannon5 51640,73
4Lewisburg3 91730,77
5Point Pleasant4 12640,97
6Bridgeport870891,03
7Summersville3 33241,20
8Oak Hill8264131,57
9Charles Town6 060101,65
10St. Albans10161191,87
11Moundsville8417172,02
12Vienna10306232,23
13Morgantown30855822,66
14Weston3 953112,78
15Ranson5 292152,83
16Martinsburg17428553,16
17Fairmont18430633,42
18South Charleston12357473,80
19Nitro6 509253,84
20Ravenswood3 720164,30

Crime Score in All Cities in West Virginia of March 2024

If your city didn’t make our list, you could see our full list of West Virginia cities.

We can’t compare crime rates in small and large cities. That’s why ElitePersonalFinance made a detailed analysis and narrowed the results according to population segments:

  • Under 3,000 Residents
  • 3,000 – 10,000 Residents
  • Over 10,000 Residents

(Other sites don’t include places with under 3,000 residents, but we included them.)

These are the results that we got:

Under 3,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Mason94100,00
2Mount Hope129700,00
3Madison276400,00
4Wellsburg256010,39
5Hinton241710,41
6Ceredo133910,75
7Shepherdstown175721,14
8Marmet139721,43
9Kenova297962,01
10Alderson115132,61
11Glen Dale139864,29
12Williamson2745165,83
13Moorefield2417208,27

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Barboursville425630,70
2Buckhannon551640,73
3Lewisburg391730,77
4Point Pleasant412640,97
5Bridgeport870891,03
6Summersville333241,20
7Oak Hill8264131,57
8Charles Town6060101,65
9Moundsville8417172,02
10Weston3953112,78
11Ranson5292152,83
12Nitro6509253,84
13Ravenswood3720164,30
14Dunbar7262446,06
15Bluefield9789929,40

Over 10,000 Residents

Rank:City:Population:Total Number of Crimes:Crime Score:
1Weirton18 54290,49
2St. Albans10 161191,87
3Vienna10 306232,23
4Morgantown30 855822,66
5Martinsburg17 428553,16
6Fairmont18 430633,42
7South Charleston12 357473,80
8Charleston47 4703316,97
9Wheeling26 8552298,53
10Beckley16 2341479,06

How safe do you feel?

Is your city safe enough? Are you worried because of the crime rate in your town? Do you have any thoughts on safety levels in the country?

If you want to share anything, feel free to leave a comment. That way, you can help us understand your perspective better.

Thank you!

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