Metro area · West Virginia

Charleston, WV metro area

Charleston, WV is a metropolitan area of 3 counties in West Virginia, home to 200,170 residents. Charleston, WV metro area has a quality-of-life score of 42 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #541 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in West Virginia it ranks #5 of 11. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), cost of buying a home today (low) and primary care physicians (high). It ranks worst on frequent mental distress (high), injury deaths (high) and depression (high).

42Moderate
Quality-of-life score
#541 of 925 metro and micro areas
West Virginia
#5 of 11 in WV
Population
200,170 (2025)
Land area
1,746 mi²
Density
114.6 /mi²
CBSA code
16620

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Charleston, WV metro area

Scores by category

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

  • Safety13#803/924
  • Economy34#611/925
  • Housing77#209/925
  • Health2#911/925
  • Healthcare81#176/923
  • Environment64#331/917
  • Education51#455/925
  • Infrastructure37#583/925
  • Community33#622/925
  • Leisure & amenities66#314/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Charleston, 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 Charleston, WV metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Charleston, 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 Charleston, 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. Kanawha CountyCentral county44172,381
  2. Boone CountyOutlying county1520,251
  3. Clay CountyOutlying county67,538

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. CharlestonPrincipal city47,421

Largest cities and towns

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

  1. Charleston47,421
  2. South Charleston13,457
  3. St. Albans10,522
  4. Cross Lanes9,671
  5. Dunbar7,254
  6. Nitro6,853
  7. Pinch4,037
  8. Sissonville3,593
  9. Madison2,788
  10. Alum Creek1,749
  11. Chesapeake1,702
  12. Belle1,611
  13. Marmet1,524
  14. Coal Fork1,423
  15. Tornado1,114
  16. Rand1,064
  17. Clendenin903
  18. Glasgow878
  19. East Bank850
  20. Elkview671
  21. Big Chimney610
  22. Chelyan564
  23. Danville549
  24. Jefferson534

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/M16620