2018 Best Places to Live in Kanawha CountyAbout this List

Charleston

• Town in West Virginia
• 129

Current Resident: Charleston is a very great place to live! With the amount of things you can do here is remarkable for a vacation, a time to unwind, or simply just for a day out. We have many parks and centers you can visit such as New River Gorge, Harper's Ferry, Blackwater Falls, and Seneca Rocks are just a few! There is also a wonderful downtown area in Charleston that is great to walk around with friends throughout the day to grab a quick bite for lunch, or to enjoy during the night time in the summers where many events take place (Live at the Levee, Art Walk, FestivALL).
Read 129 Reviews

• A-

• B-

• 50,210 Population

South Charleston

• Town in West Virginia
• 16

Current Resident: South Charleston, WV has family friendly, safe neighborhoods, great public schools, numerous job opportunities, and a wonderfully diverse population.
Read 16 Reviews

• A-

• B-

• 13,182 Population

Nitro

• Town in West Virginia
• 9

Current Resident: Have veteran memorial. Easy access to everything I live living in mitro it’s very quiet and friendly town. We have a lake for fishing, parties and weddings. We also have boom town every year which have old music and old car shows. I would recommend anyone to visit if you can or even consider moving to our town. It is small not over crowded and everyone is friendly. We have good schools and our law enforcement is very good. We do lots of fundraising for the schools and it has lots of good places to eat. We also have a lot of nice churches to attend and great fishing spots. I enjoy living there I have lived in nitro for about 6 years and it is a great town.
Read 9 Reviews

• B+

• B-

• 6,505 Population

Cross Lanes

• Town in West Virginia
• 11

Current Resident: There's a decent selection of shopping and restaurants, but the traffic can be terrible. Not many roads are connected, so that's the reason for traffic. There's only one park, and it's private. There's not much to do with families other than a movie theater and a couple playgrounds. I do enjoy my church here.
Read 11 Reviews

• B+

• C+

• 9,899 Population

Dunbar

• Town in West Virginia
• 15

Current Resident: Where I live in dunbar I'm close to grocery stores, small businesses, food, and the interstate. I have lived here for a few years now and I do love it. I'm just out side of Charleston, by a ten minute drive. Close to South and North Charleston just a few minutes away from them. The area is friendly and we have many people that live around us because we live in apartments. We have everything we need pool, gym, and family evenings. A lot of stuff for kids a few parks for them to play.
Read 15 Reviews

• B

• C+

• 7,714 Population

Pinch

• Town in West Virginia
• 13

• B

• C

• 2,826 Population

St. Albans

• Town in West Virginia
• 22

Current Resident: St. Albans is not a huge town by far but it has a wide variety of anything you could need. You have city life and country roads all within! My favorite thing about St. Albans is the people most people grew up here so everyone knows each other and if they don't then expect to a friendly introduction! The only thing I would ever change is the poverty level. Such nice people should never have to be in such a financial bind.
Read 22 Reviews

• B

• C+

• 10,788 Population

Tornado

• Town in West Virginia

• B-

• C+

• 1,548 Population

Belle

• Town in West Virginia
• 7

Niche User: Belle has its own police authority and they are usually on top of things. There is always someone on duty, day or night an. Also, I have never had any problems living in this city.
Read 7 Reviews

• B-

• C-

• 1,213 Population

Clendenin

• Town in West Virginia
• 3

Current Resident: Strong town coming back from flooding. I've lived here for over 10 years. The town has been through a lot from water chemical spills to bad flooding. Each time the town bounces back. The floods in 2015 really hurt the town it's taking a long time to rebuild this time however I'm sure it'll come back better then it was.
Read 3 Reviews

• B-

• C

• 1,027 Population

Marmet

• Town in West Virginia
• 4

Current Resident: I moved to Marmet, West Virginia, almost three years ago. I knew nothing about it but that it was about five miles from the city of Charleston. The town is quite small but the people are friendly and welcoming. There are a couple gas stations, convenience stores, food chains and even a grocery store! My friend recently bought some property in Marmet. They were some old buildings that had been condemned and deemed unsafe. He tore it all out and redid everything from the ground to the ceilings. I now live in those apartments and absolutely love it. I have a great view of the river and the mountains across the river. The only thing I would change about this little town would be some of the older property that would maybe bring the real estate down, such as old abandoned buildings or trailers. Other than that, Marmet is a great town to live in and I would certainly raise my family there. Highly recommend living in this small yet welcoming town.
Read 4 Reviews

• B-

• C-

• 1,370 Population

Rand

• Town in West Virginia
• 8

• B-

• C-

• 1,376 Population

Sissonville

• Town in West Virginia
• 4

• B-

• C

• 4,523 Population

Elkview

• Town in West Virginia
• 5

Current Resident: Elkview has had some devastation recently with the June flooding, this disaster caused people to loose everything. I have lived in Elkview for most of my life, but I was lucky not to have been flooded as others were. The town in its own way is ideal for raising children, it is all about community, church, and family in this area. Elkview is really not a high crime area, but like most neighborhoods you always have that bad seed that has to be dealt with. Overall I would say this town has lots of potential to be a great place again once the rebuilding starts, and living begins again.
Read 5 Reviews

• B-

• C

• 1,554 Population

Coal Fork

• Town in West Virginia

• C+

• C-

• 1,061 Population

Chesapeake

• Town in West Virginia

• C

• C-

• 1,570 Population

Big Chimney

• Town in West Virginia

• B-

• C

• 379 Population

Shrewsbury

• Town in West Virginia

• B-

• C-

• 798 Population

Pratt

• Town in West Virginia

• C+

• C-

• 469 Population

Cedar Grove

• Town in West Virginia

• C+

• C-

• 808 Population

East Bank

• Town in West Virginia
• 1

• C+

• C-

• 757 Population

Glasgow

• Town in West Virginia

• C+

• C-

• 771 Population

Handley

• Town in West Virginia

• C

• C-

• 233 Population

Jefferson

• Town in West Virginia

• C

• C+

• 822 Population

Chelyan

• Town in West Virginia
• 1

• C

• C-

• 898 Population