Morgantown, WV

Metro Area Profile

141,323 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Morgantown, WV metropolitan area.

61out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 38% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 34% of 379 published metros63
Growth559th of 821 published metros39
Housing affordability448th of 822 published metros93
ClimateTop 40% of 822 published metros70
Physical resilience511th of 822 published metros47
Access574th of 822 published metros65
Economic stability569th of 822 published metros37
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $64,640, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.

Rent takes 18% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.6 times that income.

A typical July reaches 84°F and a typical January falls to 24°F, on thirty-year normals.

At a glance

Population
141,323
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,640
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
140/sq mi
1008.9 sq mi of land
Median age
35.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Morgantown, WV
Nearest major airport
LBE
56 mi · Arnold Palmer Rgnl
Median home value
$233,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 66% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment grew 1.3% over the past year, to 68,027 employed residents.

40% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,584$64,640Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,062$38,900Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.3%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.9 minTop 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher40.1%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment68,027Bottom 26%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.5%Bottom 25%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.3%Top 10%June 2026
Labor force70,784Bottom 25%June 2026
Labor force participation60.5%Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,310Top 45%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,350Bottom 44%2025 OEWS
Metro employment67,370Bottom 31%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.2%Top 38%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 34%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.72.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Morgantown, WV
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses4,510$80,130
Retail Salespersons2,090$28,570
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary1,400$60,300
Cashiers1,370$27,370
Nursing Assistants1,310$35,880
General and Operations Managers1,280$89,440

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $967 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$967
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$233,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.60Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.1%Bottom 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8365,115Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$24$967Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,160$233,000Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.0%Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.8%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
39/ 100
Ranks 559 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 142,752 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
22
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.2
Bottom 4% nationally
Year over year
+38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024143k140k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.2 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MORGANTOWN HART FLD, 10.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing42°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, lightning and cold wave.

Inland floodingElevated
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, strong wind, hail, avalanche, winter weather, ice storm, tornado, earthquake, heat wave, wildfire, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 56 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arnold Palmer RgnlLBE56 mi8,222 ft
Pittsburgh IntlPIT71 mi11,500 ft
Youngstown/Warren RgnlYNG129 mi9,003 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
61
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.