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Towns / West Virginia

Summersville, West Virginia

Summersville is a small town of about 3,300 people in Nicholas County, West Virginia. It's the county seat. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 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 156 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,297
down 3.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$230,000
Nicholas County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$56,571
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural West Virginia
87
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Summersville Regional Medical Center
To Pittsburgh
156 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 13% below the U.S. average in the parts of West Virginia outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 17 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySummersville Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 156 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 Summersville 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$230,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Nicholas County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$56,571U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,215 a yearWest Virginia: $865
Homes built before 1940
5%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87U.S. average = 100 (the parts of West Virginia outside metro areas)

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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of West Virginia outside metro areas, not Summersville 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
3,2972020: 3,422
Median age
56.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
38%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%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
Other services (8%); professional and business services (8%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
20%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Summersville Regional Medical Center, Summersville, WV, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Beckley Arh Hospital, Beckley, WV, about 38 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 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 Summersville, run by Nicholas 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
67%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
21°F
July average high
81°F
Days 90°F or hotter
2 a year
Nights at or below freezing
127 a year
Rain and melted snow
55.4 inches a year
Snow
68 inches a year
Elevation
1,924 feet

Weather stations: Summersville Lake (5 miles away) and Mt Nebo 1 S (7 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Roanoke, Pittsburgh.

Nicholas County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Gauley River National Recreation Area5 miles
  • New River Gorge National Park and Preserve19 miles
  • Bluestone National Scenic River48 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail59 miles

Read about Summersville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Summersville?

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

  • Nettie, WV (unincorporated)183 people, 9 miles
  • Craigsville, WV (unincorporated)2,190 people, 11 miles
  • Tioga, WV (unincorporated)577 people, 14 miles
  • Camden-on-Gauley, WV114 people, 14 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.