How much do households in West Virginia spend on rent?
About $795 per month, or 32.1% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
32.1%
of median income
In 2022,
$795
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
West Virginia's rent-to-income ratio was higher than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income
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The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In West Virginia, the rent-to-income ratio reached 33.6% that year. Most recently, in 2022, West Virginia’s rent-to-income ratio was 32.1%, 0.4 percentage points higher than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area, at 21.7% (lowest). In West Virginia, the highest and lowest were the Beckley, WV area at 37.7% and the Weirton, WV area at 28.0%.
During that period, Morgantown, West Virginia had the highest median rent at $914 per month and highest median monthly income at $2,574 out of seven West Virginia metro areas. Its rent-to-income ratio was second highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, West Virginia metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Beckley, WV area | $2,110 |
| 2. | Charleston, WV area | $2,544 |
| 3. | Huntington, WV area | $2,479 |
| 4. | Morgantown, WV area | $2,574 |
| 5. | Parkersburg, WV area | $2,456 |
| 6. | Weirton, WV area | $2,571 |
| 7. | Wheeling, WV area | $2,314 |
