Independence, West Virginia.
. Morgantown, WV metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$488 (+111%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- West Virginia$927
- United States$1,922
Living in Independence, Preston County, West Virginia
The Census does not count Independence on its own, so the figures here are Preston County's. Half the county's households earn more than $61,880 a year and half less; 14% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 82% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 18% are rented. Unemployment in Preston County was 3.9% in August 2026, and the county had 2.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Preston County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Independence sits in Preston County in north-central West Virginia, and most homes there are lived in by their owners. Across the county, residents tend to be older than the country as a whole, and household incomes are lower than the national typical level. Winters are colder than most of the country's and bring a good deal of snow, while summers are warm.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in the building trades, or in manufacturing. Jobs grew across the county last year, and unemployment has eased over the past year. Fewer people work from home here than across the country, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree.
Things to do. Upper Deckers Creek Wildlife Management Area, a protected area, is a short drive away, and the West Virginia Zoo, also a short drive away, is a zoo. Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, a stadium, is a longer drive away and is the best known of the nearby places.
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- 12,809households
- 43.3median age
- 18%of adults have a degree
- 14%below the poverty line
- 31 mintypical commute
- 9%work from home
What people in Preston County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Preston County had 7,365 jobs in 2025, 2.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 39° and lows near 21°; warmest in July, with highs near 81° and lows near 61°. About 26 inches of snow and 49 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Tygart Dam weather station, 12 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Preston County
- Preston County SchoolsSchool district590FTE
- Bureau of Prisons/federal Prison SystemFederal government · Department of Justice329
- Preston Memorial HospitalCritical access hospital297FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters231
- Preston ContractorsSite prep mines230
- BlueRidge Fiber SolutionsSheet metal work manufacturing121
- Wvnh EMPNursing care facilities106
- Mountaineer ContractorsExcavating100
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 13 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,583 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24), federal offices from OPM's federal workforce data (2026) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
FEMA rates every natural hazard here relatively low or very low.
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Preston County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Preston County and the Morgantown, WV metro.
Independence home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Independence6
Zip codes with a Independence address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Independence — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.