Metro area · West Virginia

Beckley, WV metro area

Beckley, WV is a metropolitan area of 2 counties in West Virginia, home to 109,940 residents. Beckley, WV metro area has a quality-of-life score of 17 out of 100 (very low), ranking #765 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in West Virginia it ranks #11 of 11. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), cost of buying a home today (low) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on frequent mental distress (high), injury deaths (high) and depression (high).

17Very low
Quality-of-life score
#765 of 925 metro and micro areas
West Virginia
#11 of 11 in WV
Population
109,940 (2025)
Land area
1,267 mi²
Density
86.8 /mi²
CBSA code
13220

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 67 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Beckley, WV metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety29#654/924
  • Economy7#864/925
  • Housing51#452/925
  • Health0#923/925
  • Healthcare51#449/923
  • Environment93#62/917
  • Education18#757/925
  • Infrastructure2#911/925
  • Community8#848/925
  • Leisure & amenities34#611/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Beckley, WV metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like Beckley, WV metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Beckley, WV metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Beckley, WV

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Raleigh CountyCentral county2371,775
  2. Fayette CountyCentral county1938,165

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. BeckleyPrincipal city16,818

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Beckley16,818
  2. Oak Hill7,937
  3. Shady Spring3,381
  4. Fayetteville2,817
  5. Sophia1,528
  6. Montgomery1,516
  7. Mount Hope1,504
  8. MacArthur1,493
  9. Daniels1,489
  10. Stanaford1,449
  11. Bradley1,424
  12. Mabscott1,396
  13. Prosperity1,389
  14. Ansted1,140
  15. Crab Orchard1,139
  16. Piney View986
  17. Sprague952
  18. Coal City724
  19. Smithers712
  20. Beaver695
  21. Gatewood605
  22. Meadow Bridge504
  23. Powellton479
  24. Gauley Bridge413

Other metro and micro areas in West Virginia

Areas based in West Virginia, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M13220