West Virginia rental market data

Across the 14 measured metros, median rent growth was 3.6% versus 1.9% for home values, a reported gap of 1.6 percentage points. The middle range was wide: rent growth ran from 0.8% at the 10th percentile to 7.3% at the 90th, while value growth ranged from negative 0.4% to 4.0%. The median relationship therefore should not be applied to every locality.

Bluefield shows the strongest named separation: rent rose 9.3% while value slipped 0.4%, a calculated difference of 9.7 percentage points, although its indicated gross yield was 6.5%. Weirton recorded 8.3% rent growth, 4.3% value growth and a 6.9% gross yield; Huntington recorded 5.2%, 0.9% and 7.7%, respectively. These asking-rent, value and gross-yield measures are useful for prioritization, but they do not establish achieved lease growth or net operating returns.

The median year-over-year employment change across 14 measured metros was negative 0.7%, with the 10th-to-90th-percentile range running from negative 2.3% to positive 0.4%. The weakness was not universal: Morgantown posted 1.3% job growth, Huntington 0.4% and Winchester 0.3%.

Across all 55 counties, net migration was positive by 874 people, equal to 0.5 per 1,000 residents, while aggregate income moving in exceeded income moving out by $73,556. That is a meaningful counter-signal to the negative median employment reading. Because the job and migration measures cover different periods and units, they support local demand screening rather than a claim that migration is sustaining current rent growth.

Among 13 measured metros, the median market had 3.4 months of supply, 52 days on market, a 97.3% sale-to-list ratio and price reductions on 24.8% of listings. Those middle readings conceal important exit differences. Bluefield had 8.1 months of supply, above the measured 90th-percentile level of 6.0 months, along with 63 days on market and a 94.4% sale-to-list ratio. Clarksburg took 72 days to sell despite a lower four months of supply, while Morgantown had 61 days and 3.1 months.

There is also a supply counter-signal in the named building markets. Winchester and Hagerstown each had 2.9 months of supply while permitting 6.4 and 5.3 units per 1,000 residents, respectively. Permits can flag where the development pipeline deserves attention, but they are not completed units and do not establish how much future supply will compete for renters.

Across all 55 counties, the median vacancy rate was 17.5% and the 90th-percentile rate was 29.8%. In the median county, renters represented 21.4% of occupied households, single-family homes represented 74.0% of stock and large multifamily buildings represented only 1.2%. The median year built was 1977. This distribution points to a market where property condition, scattered-site operating costs and the depth of comparable rentals require close attention.

Pocahontas County had a 53.5% vacancy rate, Tucker County 39.0% and Pendleton County 36.6%, but the measure does not identify how much vacant stock is available, habitable or intended for year-round rental use. Tenant affordability is another constraint: 47.0% was the median county share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent, rising to 67.1% in Clay County, 66.9% in Webster County and 63.6% in Wirt County. These burden rates do not measure collections, but they limit what rent-growth figures alone can establish.

Each of the 55 counties has inland flood as its mutually exclusive leading-hazard label. Across the county distribution, the median climate-loss ratio was 0.27% and the 90th-percentile ratio was 0.44%. The median measured property-tax rate was 0.49%, rising to 0.64% at the 90th percentile.

Wetzel County combined a 0.55% climate-loss ratio with a 0.67% property-tax rate. Wyoming County measured 0.49% and 0.45%, while Boone County measured 0.49% and 0.67%. These county-level ratios can prioritize further review, but a leading-hazard label does not establish parcel exposure, building vulnerability, insurability or the premium available to a specific owner.