Town · Preston County, West Virginia

Terra Alta, West Virginia

Terra Alta is a town in Preston County, West Virginia, part of the Morgantown, WV metro area. It has 1,841 residents. Terra Alta, West Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,866 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within West Virginia it ranks #101 of 150 cities and towns. It ranks best on hot days (low), property crime rate (low) and home price to income ratio (low). It ranks worst on depression (high), frequent mental distress (high) and high school diploma or higher (low).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,866 of 15,651 cities and towns
West Virginia: #101 of 150 in WV
Population: 1,841 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,553.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 5479708

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety71#4,483/15,637
Economy3#15,119/15,631
Housing65#5,205/14,977
Health6#14,619/15,609
Healthcare17#12,920/15,650
Environment96#615/15,453
Education2#15,293/15,649
Infrastructure20#12,447/15,650
Community6#14,671/15,651
Leisure & amenities16#13,187/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Terra Alta, West Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Preston 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 · low1 days
98/100West Virginia 10 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPreston County value
Property crime rate · low339 /100k
95/100West Virginia 1,053 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figurePreston County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
94/100West Virginia 2.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Time spent in the emergency room · low112 min
91/100West Virginia 145 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPreston County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100West Virginia 1United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePreston County value
Violent crime rate · low112 /100k
82/100West Virginia 242 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figurePreston County value

Weaknesses

Depression · high33.9%
0/100West Virginia 31.9%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Frequent mental distress · high24.7%
1/100West Virginia 23.4%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
High school diploma or higher · low77.5%
3/100West Virginia 89.3%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Adult smoking · high23.9%
3/100West Virginia 21.4%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Bachelor's degree or higher · low8.8%
5/100West Virginia 24.1%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
New business applications · low7.7 /1k
5/100West Virginia 9.3 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauPreston County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,736 (2015-2019) → 1,841 (2020-2024)
+6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
25.0% (2015-2019) → 45.3% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.3% (2015-2019) → 87.4% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,632 (2015-2019) → $50,536 (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
High school diploma or higherWorsening
84.8% (2015-2019) → 77.5% (2020-2024)
−7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Poverty rateWorsening
23.7% (2015-2019) → 29.1% (2020-2024)
+5.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Terra Alta, West Virginia improved on 1 of 13 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.

Improved1

Broadband+14 points73.3% → 87.4%

Declined1

High school+−7.3 points84.8% → 77.5%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Terra Alta, West Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.5 min2015-2019	28.4 min2020-2024	−2.1 min	Within the margin of error	72%
Broadband subscriptions	73.3%2015-2019	87.4%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	77%
Child poverty rate	25.0%2015-2019	45.3%2020-2024	+20 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Effective property tax rate	0.48%2015-2019	0.65%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	4%
High school diploma or higher	84.8%2015-2019	77.5%2020-2024	−7.3 points	Declined	3%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4122015-2019	0.4092020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	54%
Median household income	$34,6322015-2019	$50,5362020-2024	+46%	Within the margin of error	81%
Poverty rate	23.7%2015-2019	29.1%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Rent as share of income	30.5%2015-2019	30.9%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Rent-burdened households	52.2%2015-2019	55.2%2020-2024	+3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Unemployment rate	9.2%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.2%2015-2019	12.7%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Within the margin of error	16%

“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 Terra Alta, West Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Terra Alta, 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, Terra Alta, West Virginia itself moved −0.8 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,841 residents (±405)

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: 20–29 men (+6.2 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

1,841 residents (±405)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

White84%1,548
Black1.1%†20
Hispanic or Latino0.9%†16

Education

1,120 residents (±216)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

No high school diploma23%†252
High school or GED45%508
Some college16%†180

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

637 households (±109)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $25k25%†161
$25k–50k24%†156
$50k–75k23%†147
$75k–100k10%†66
$100k–150k13%†83
$150k–200k3.0%†19
$200k or more0.8%†5

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−13.0 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 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

637 households (±109)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Own69%441
Rent31%†196

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 B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

181 households (±73)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $75050%†91
$750–1,00032%†58
$1,000–1,50018%†

Home values

441 homes (±85)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under $150k79%348
$150k–250k18%†80
$250k–400k2.9%†13

Age of homes

760 homes (±116)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

2010 or later8.8%†67
2000–20096.1%†46
1980–19992.8%†21

Size of homes

760 homes (±116)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom12%†91
2 bedrooms30%†231

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

785 workers (±162)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Drive alone83%653
Carpool11%†88
Public transit1.3%†10
Walk0.8%†6
Bike0.0%0
Work from home3.1%†24
Other0.5%†4

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (+6.6 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

761 workers (±160)

Terra Alta, West Virginia
West Virginia share

Under 15 min26%†200
15–29 min34%†260
30–44 min23%†

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 Morgantown, 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 Preston County, the county holding most of Terra Alta's residents.

Preston County has 509 employer establishments, 149 for every 10,000 residents (0.60× the US rate of 248; 0.74× West Virginia's), with 5,012 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,413. The Census Bureau also counts 1,793 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 509; 1,793 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 149; US 248 · West Virginia 202
Paid employees: 5,012
Average annual pay: $45,413; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	52	15.3	0.99×About typical	528	$58,934	141
Construction of buildings	38	11.2	1.48×More than typical	97	$34,454	91
Ambulatory health care services	31	9.1	0.44×Fewer than typical	295	$43,610	45
Truck transportation	30	8.8	1.74×More than typical	123	$56,341	82
Restaurants and other eating places	26	7.6	0.42×Fewer than typical	245	$18,522	13
Other specialty trade contractors	24	7	2.81×More than typical	442	$60,622	49
Gasoline stations	22	6.5	1.99×More than typical	154	$23,422	—
Religious organizations	20	5.9	1.06×About typical	31	$19,000	—
Lessors of real estate	18	5.3	0.43×Fewer than typical	50	$46,020	120
Automotive repair and maintenance	16	4.7	0.93×About typical	60	$42,867	57
Services to buildings and dwellings	15	4.4	0.65×Fewer than typical	621	$49,961	126
Building equipment contractors	14	4.1	0.68×Fewer than typical	49	$46,286	39

Rank places for an industry Open Preston County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 34,059 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Terra Alta, West Virginia: $0 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,995
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

0FY2020
836.3FY2021
-422.7FY2023

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 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 Terra Alta, West Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Terra Alta, West Virginia's figures are part of those of Preston County, WV ($10.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Preston 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.

Terra Alta, 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.

Preston County35100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Morgantown, WV70

Other cities and towns in Preston 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
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/5479708