Which West Virginia counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 55 West Virginia counties we have scored, Jefferson County scores highest at 98 and Wyoming County lowest at 72. West Virginia ranks 35th of 50 overall, at 79 out of 100 (Significant challenges). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 55 counties · 277 spots of private rural land scored

Significant challengesWest Virginia ranks 35th of 50, 79 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #34 and #36. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in West Virginia, best score first

Find a county55 counties


Jefferson → 286 people / sq mi	98	25	19	14	15	15	10
Berkeley → 412 people / sq mi	92	25	18	13	15	14	7
Morgan → 77 people / sq mi	90	24	20	13	14	12	7
Taylor → 95 people / sq mi	90	25	20	11	14	13	7
Hancock → 341 people / sq mi	88	24	18	11	15	13	7
Hardy → 25 people / sq mi	88	24	20	13	14	11	6
Harrison → 155 people / sq mi	88	25	20	10	14	11	8
Brooke → 240 people / sq mi	87	24	20	10	14	12	7
Monroe → 26 people / sq mi	87	24	20	11	15	11	6
Greenbrier → 32 people / sq mi	86	24	20	13	15	10	4
Hampshire → 37 people / sq mi	86	25	20	10	14	11	6
Tucker → 16 people / sq mi	86	24	19	12	15	10	6
Pendleton → 9 people / sq mi	85	25	19	13	14	10	4
Preston → 53 people / sq mi	85	24	20	11	13	11	6
Barbour → 45 people / sq mi	84	24	20	12	11	11	6
Braxton → 24 people / sq mi	84	23	20	12	14	11	4
Jackson → 59 people / sq mi	84	23	20	12	14	11	4
Ohio → 389 people / sq mi	84	24	19	11	14	11	5
Lincoln → 45 people / sq mi	83	22	19	13	13	11	5
Mineral → 82 people / sq mi	83	24	20	13	11	10	5
Summers → 32 people / sq mi	83	24	20	13	11	10	5
Wirt → 22 people / sq mi	83	21	19	10	15	11	7
Wood → 227 people / sq mi	83	23	20	13	10	11	6
Nicholas → 37 people / sq mi	82	24	19	10	13	10	6
Putnam → 165 people / sq mi	82	23	20	12	11	11	5
Grant → 23 people / sq mi	81	24	18	11	14	10	4
Mercer → 139 people / sq mi	81	24	19	13	11	10	4
Pocahontas → 8 people / sq mi	81	25	19	13	11	10	3
Doddridge → 24 people / sq mi	80	23	20	12	11	10	4
Marshall → 96 people / sq mi	80	23	20	11	11	11	4
Pleasants → 57 people / sq mi	80	23	20	12	11	10	4
Upshur → 66 people / sq mi	80	23	20	12	11	10	4
Webster → 15 people / sq mi	80	23	20	12	11	10	4
Calhoun → 21 people / sq mi	79	23	20	12	11	11	2
Clay → 23 people / sq mi	79	24	19	10	11	11	4
Gilmer → 21 people / sq mi	79	23	20	12	11	10	3
Marion → 181 people / sq mi	79	23	19	12	11	10	4
Mason → 58 people / sq mi	79	23	20	12	10	10	4
Raleigh → 120 people / sq mi	79	25	20	12	11	11	0
Tyler → 31 people / sq mi	79	23	20	12	11	10	3
Cabell → 328 people / sq mi	78	23	19	10	11	10	5
Lewis → 43 people / sq mi	78	23	20	10	11	11	3
McDowell → 33 people / sq mi	78	25	19	13	11	10	0
Mingo → 52 people / sq mi	78	25	20	13	10	10	0
Randolph → 26 people / sq mi	78	24	19	10	11	10	4
Wayne → 75 people / sq mi	78	23	20	10	11	10	4
Kanawha → 194 people / sq mi	77	23	20	13	11	10	0
Logan → 68 people / sq mi	77	25	19	13	10	10	0
Roane → 28 people / sq mi	77	23	19	9	11	11	4
Monongalia → 299 people / sq mi	76	23	19	10	11	10	3
Boone → 41 people / sq mi	75	25	19	10	11	10	0
Fayette → 59 people / sq mi	75	24	20	10	11	10	0
Wetzel → 39 people / sq mi	75	23	20	11	11	10	0
Ritchie → 18 people / sq mi	73	21	19	9	11	10	3
Wyoming → 41 people / sq mi	72	23	19	10	10	10	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

46% of West Virginia's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan. The weakest are Wyoming, Ritchie and Boone. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and energy (sun, and heating and cooling needs).

What separates them

Buildability: Jefferson County scores 10 of 10, Wyoming County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Solar: Jefferson County scores 14 of 15, Ritchie County 9. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Hazard: Jefferson County scores 15 of 15, Wyoming County 10. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Jefferson County scores 15 of 15, Wyoming County 10. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Water: Jefferson County scores 25 of 25, Ritchie County 21. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

Legal barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is West Virginia's weakest dimension, at 3 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $32k to $89k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full West Virginia row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

Check a West Virginia parcel, or plan the one you own

Get a free 0-100 off-grid score.

Before you buy in West Virginia

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in West Virginia? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Significant challengesWest Virginia: 79 of 100, 35th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

Score a parcel free →