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Towns / West Virginia

Moundsville, West Virginia

Moundsville is a small town of about 7,700 people in Marshall County, West Virginia. It's the county seat. It has lost about 5% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Pittsburgh, is about 54 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
7,659
down 5.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$118,600
Marshall County prices up 17% since 2022
Household income
$49,048
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Wheeling area
88.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Glen Dale, WV
To Pittsburgh
54 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.7% below the U.S. average in the Wheeling metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood20 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 23.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byReynolds Memorial Hospital, INC in Glen Dale, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 54 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Moundsville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Worth a closer look

Moundsville has lost about 5% of its people since 2020, and about 1 in 9 homes stands empty (not counting vacation homes or homes for sale or rent). A shrinking town can mean bargains, but visit Main Street on a weekday and ask what's closed lately.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$118,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 17%Marshall County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$834 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,048U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
71%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$521 a yearWest Virginia: $865
Homes built before 1940
43%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.3U.S. average = 100 (the Wheeling metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 17% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Wheeling metro area, not Moundsville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
7,6592020: 8,068
Median age
44.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (24%); retail (16%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (12%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
22%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Reynolds Memorial Hospital, INC, Glen Dale, WV, about 2 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

5 public schools in Moundsville, run by Marshall County Schools.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on West Virginia's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
83%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
20°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
22 a year
Nights at or below freezing
113 a year
Rain and melted snow
46.1 inches a year
Snow
16 inches a year
Elevation
703 feet

Weather station: Moundsville (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Reynolds Memorial Hospital, Pittsburgh.

Marshall County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Grave Creek Mound, the Moundsville Commercial Historic District, Prabhupada's Palace of Gold and West Virginia State Penitentiary. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Friendship Hill National Historic Site44 miles
  • Fort Necessity National Battlefield58 miles

Read about Moundsville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Moundsville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Neffs, OH (unincorporated)921 people, 9 miles
  • Glencoe, OH (unincorporated)255 people, 10 miles
  • Brookside, OH523 people, 10 miles
  • Wolfhurst, OH (unincorporated)1,058 people, 10 miles
  • Triadelphia, WV651 people, 11 miles
  • Blaine, OH (unincorporated)296 people, 11 miles
  • Lansing, OH (unincorporated)523 people, 11 miles
  • Cameron, WV818 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.