City · Fayette County, West Virginia

Oak Hill, West Virginia

Oak Hill is a city in Fayette County, West Virginia, part of the Beckley, WV metro area. It has 7,937 residents. Oak Hill, West Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,994 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within West Virginia it ranks #132 of 150 cities and towns. It ranks best on hot days (low), public libraries (high) and pharmacies (high). It ranks worst on depression (high), drug overdose deaths (high) and frequent mental distress (high).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,994 of 15,651 cities and towns
West Virginia: #132 of 150 in WV
Population: 7,937 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 818.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 5460028

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety47#8,351/15,637
Economy5#14,776/15,631
Housing43#8,510/14,977
Health1#15,513/15,609
Healthcare9#14,313/15,650
Environment73#4,109/15,453
Education11#13,966/15,649
Infrastructure15#13,286/15,650
Community16#13,121/15,651
Leisure & amenities32#10,704/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Oak Hill, West Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Fayette County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Hot days · low2 days
94/100West Virginia 10 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationFayette County value
Public libraries · high2.3 /10k
93/100West Virginia 1.0 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesFayette County value
Pharmacies · high2.6 /10k
92/100West Virginia 2.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFayette County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
89/100West Virginia 30 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauFayette County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.3×
87/100West Virginia 2.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high6.0 /10k
81/100West Virginia 5.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFayette County value

Weaknesses

Depression · high33.9%
0/100West Virginia 31.9%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Drug overdose deaths · high61.4 /100k
1/100West Virginia 36.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFayette County value
Frequent mental distress · high24.8%
1/100West Virginia 23.4%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Injury deaths · high179 /100k
1/100West Virginia 151 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value
Primary care shortage · high20.0
1/100West Virginia 14.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationFayette County value
Life expectancy · low69.4 yrs
2/100West Virginia 72.4 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFayette County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedWorsening
0.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.9% (2015-2019) → 88.0% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
23.0% (2015-2019) → 31.3% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateImproving
11.6% (2015-2019) → 4.6% (2020-2024)
−7 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$39,296 (2015-2019) → $52,466 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
6.7% (2015-2019) → 11.7% (2020-2024)
+4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Oak Hill, West Virginia improved on 3 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Unemployment−7 points11.6% → 4.6%
Broadband+14 points73.9% → 88.0%
Household income+34%$39,296 → $52,466

Declined1

Uninsured+4.9 points6.7% → 11.7%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Oak Hill, West Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.0 min2015-2019	29.0 min2020-2024	+4.1 min	Within the margin of error	14%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.5%2015-2019	15.6%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Broadband subscriptions	73.9%2015-2019	88.0%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	76%
Child poverty rate	23.0%2015-2019	31.3%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Effective property tax rate	0.66%2015-2019	0.59%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	28%
High school diploma or higher	84.2%2015-2019	84.7%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	87%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4502015-2019	0.4432020-2024	−0.007	Within the margin of error	57%
Median household income	$39,2962015-2019	$52,4662020-2024	+34%	Improved	62%
Poverty rate	20.9%2015-2019	21.7%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.7%2015-2019	34.2%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Rent-burdened households	51.9%2015-2019	56.8%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Unemployment rate	11.6%2015-2019	4.6%2020-2024	−7 points	Improved	98%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	6.7%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Declined	11%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Oak Hill, West Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Oak Hill, West Virginia in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Oak Hill, West Virginia itself moved −3.1 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,937 residents (±22)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,344 households (±240)

Oak Hill, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $25k23%769
$25k–50k25%830
$50k–75k19%†638

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,344 households (±240)

Oak Hill, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Own74%2,463
Rent26%881

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,389 workers (±335)

Oak Hill, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Drive alone75%2,542
Carpool14%†475
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Beckley, WV

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Fayette County, the county holding most of Oak Hill's residents.

Fayette County has 710 employer establishments, 182 for every 10,000 residents (0.73× the US rate of 248; 0.90× West Virginia's), with 7,593 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,222. The Census Bureau also counts 1,955 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 710; 1,955 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 182; US 248 · West Virginia 202
Paid employees: 7,593
Average annual pay: $47,222; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Fayette County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	66	16.9	0.81×About typical	534	$65,740	84
Restaurants and other eating places	55	14.1	0.77×Fewer than typical	914	$18,045	6
Religious organizations	40	10.2	1.85×More than typical	140	$14,029	—
Construction of buildings	36	9.2	1.22×About typical	110	$45,045	73
Specialty trade contractors	31	7.9	0.51×Fewer than typical	143	$39,671	116
Full-service restaurants	29	7.4	0.97×About typical	403	$20,216	4
Lessors of real estate	26	6.7	0.54×Fewer than typical	53	$31,189	198
Gasoline stations	24	6.1	1.90×More than typical	182	$28,495	—
Limited-service restaurants	24	6.1	0.77×Fewer than typical	495	$16,679	—
Offices of other health practitioners	24	6.1	1.01×About typical	76	$45,289	48
Insurance agencies and brokerages	19	4.9	1.11×About typical	88	$50,125	21
Truck transportation	18	4.6	0.91×About typical	133	$53,594	44

Rank places for an industry Open Fayette County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 39,060 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $212.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Oak Hill, West Virginia: $26.80 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $212.7K; +19% vs FY2025
Per resident: $26.80; US $1,995
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 24%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Highway Administration$126.2K59%
Federal Aviation Administration$51.5K24%
Environmental Protection Agency$31.9K15%
National Park Service$3,0661.4%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

2KFY2017
1.6KFY2018
1KFY2019
943.4FY2020
2.3MFY2021
536.4KFY2022
285.8KFY2023
114KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$126.2K59%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$54.5K26%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$31.9K15%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Oak Hill, West Virginia

SHAFER/ARBUCKLE CREEK AREA SITE - REMEDIAL ACQUISITION FRAMEWORK (RAF), DESIGN AND ENGINEERING SERVICES (DES) THE PURPOSE OF THIS TASK ORDER (TO) IS FOR THE CONTRACTOR TO PERFORM REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION AND FEASIBILITY STUDY (RI/FS) SUPPORT SERVICES$2.2M
NOBIS ENGINEERING, INC· Fayette County, WV· Facilities & utilities· Mar 5, 2021 – Apr 24, 2026· 68HE0321F0039

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Oak Hill, West Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Oak Hill, West Virginia's figures are part of those of Fayette County, WV ($7.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 2.8% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Oak Hill is mostly in Fayette County.

See federal money in Fayette County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Oak Hill, West Virginia is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Carol D. MillerR-WV-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 5.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Fayette County19100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Beckley, WV17

Other cities and towns in Fayette County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5460028

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends