City · Hampshire County, West Virginia

Romney, West Virginia

Romney is a city in Hampshire County, West Virginia, part of the Winchester, VA-WV metro area. It has 1,922 residents. Romney, West Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,465 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within West Virginia it ranks #140 of 150 cities and towns. It ranks best on hospital quality rating (high), time spent in the emergency room (low) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on depression (high), frequent mental distress (high) and arts, entertainment and recreation (low).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,465 of 15,651 cities and towns
West Virginia: #140 of 150 in WV
Population: 1,922 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,818.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 5470084

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety40#9,426/15,637
Economy2#15,336/15,631
Housing61#5,792/14,977
Health8#14,385/15,609
Healthcare16#13,103/15,650
Environment37#9,724/15,453
Education30#11,032/15,649
Infrastructure8#14,349/15,650
Community12#13,757/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#14,977/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Romney, West Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Hampshire 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

Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100West Virginia 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHampshire County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low98 min
97/100West Virginia 145 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHampshire County value
Property crime rate · low327 /100k
96/100West Virginia 1,053 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHampshire County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.40%
94/100West Virginia 0.50%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Pharmacies · high2.5 /10k
90/100West Virginia 2.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHampshire County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low6.3 µg/m³
85/100West Virginia 7.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHampshire County value

Weaknesses

Depression · high33.6%
1/100West Virginia 31.9%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Frequent mental distress · high24.3%
1/100West Virginia 23.4%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.8 /10k
2/100West Virginia 5.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHampshire County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low32.7%
3/100West Virginia 58.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHampshire County value
Broadband subscriptions · low81.7%
3/100West Virginia 86.1%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Injury deaths · high151 /100k
3/100West Virginia 151 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHampshire County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,107 (2015-2019) → 1,922 (2020-2024)
−8.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
58.6% (2015-2019) → 81.6% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedImproving
1.0 /1k (2021) → 1.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+59%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
48.3% (2015-2019) → 37.4% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
22.6 min (2015-2019) → 34.6 min (2020-2024)
+53%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$33,675 (2015-2019) → $49,286 (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Romney, West Virginia improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved1

Broadband+23 points58.6% → 81.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Romney, West Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.6 min2015-2019	34.6 min2020-2024	+12.0 min	Within the margin of error	1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.7%2015-2019	14.9%2020-2024	−3.8 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Broadband subscriptions	58.6%2015-2019	81.6%2020-2024	+23 points	Improved	94%
Child poverty rate	48.3%2015-2019	37.4%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Effective property tax rate	0.49%2015-2019	0.40%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
High school diploma or higher	85.2%2015-2019	84.3%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Home price to income ratio	3.5×2015-2019	3.7×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	65%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4852015-2019	0.4582020-2024	−0.028	Within the margin of error	73%
Median household income	$33,6752015-2019	$49,2862020-2024	+46%	Within the margin of error	81%
Poverty rate	27.1%2015-2019	25.9%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Rent as share of income	30.3%2015-2019	29.0%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Rent-burdened households	51.5%2015-2019	46.4%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	72%

“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 Romney, West Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Romney, 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, Romney, West Virginia itself moved −1.2 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

1,922 residents (±371)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 80 and over women (−6.1 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,922 residents (±371)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

White89%1,705
Black2.6%†50
Hispanic or Latino0.3%†5

Education

1,434 residents (±302)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

No high school diploma16%†225
High school or GED50%†718
Some college17%

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

752 households (±141)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $25k35%†261
$25k–50k16%†119
$50k–75k18%†135
$75k–100k10.0%†75
$100k–150k13%†98
$150k–200k5.3%†40
$200k or more3.2%†24

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

752 households (±141)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Own49%368
Rent51%384

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

352 households (±107)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $75072%†252
$750–1,00016%†55
$1,000–1,50012%†

Home values

368 homes (±99)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $150k33%†120
$150k–250k40%†146
$250k–400k11%†41

Age of homes

935 homes (±145)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

2010 or later0.0%0
2000–20093.9%†36
1980–199937%†345

Size of homes

935 homes (±145)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Studio1.2%†11
1 bedroom18%†166
2 bedrooms34%320

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

678 workers (±173)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Drive alone88%594
Carpool1.9%†13
Public transit0.0%0
Walk5.8%†39
Bike0.0%0
Work from home4.7%†32
Other0.0%0

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

646 workers (±164)

Romney, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under 15 min49%†317
15–29 min7.3%†47
30–44 min7.7%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Winchester, VA-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 Hampshire County, the county holding most of Romney's residents.

Hampshire County has 310 employer establishments, 131 for every 10,000 residents (0.53× the US rate of 248; 0.65× West Virginia's), with 2,593 paid employees at an average annual pay of $37,678. The Census Bureau also counts 1,465 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 310; 1,465 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 131; US 248 · West Virginia 202
Paid employees: 2,593
Average annual pay: $37,678; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	30	12.7	0.82×About typical	109	$40,734	181
Restaurants and other eating places	23	9.7	0.53×Fewer than typical	257	$16,093	9
Religious organizations	18	7.6	1.37×More than typical	41	$23,293	—
Ambulatory health care services	16	6.8	0.33×Fewer than typical	151	$53,325	52
Building equipment contractors	12	5.1	0.84×About typical	44	$44,091	28
Construction of buildings	12	5.1	0.67×Fewer than typical	37	$40,595	99
Full-service restaurants	12	5.1	0.66×Fewer than typical	97	$21,124	3
Lessors of real estate	12	5.1	0.41×Fewer than typical	17	$74,118	105
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	4.7	0.69×Fewer than typical	19	$31,579	100
Automotive repair and maintenance	10	4.2	0.84×About typical	20	$37,150	44
Banks and credit unions	10	4.2	1.31×More than typical	146	$43,740	—
Landscaping services	9	3.8	1.09×Too few to compare	14	$28,786	47

Rank places for an industry Open Hampshire County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,600 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Hampshire 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.

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

House

Riley M. MooreR-WV-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.8%

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.

Hampshire County23100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Winchester, VA-WV67

Other cities and towns in Hampshire 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/5470084