Most Densely Populated Cities in West Virginia: Ranked by People per Square Mile

The densest city in West Virginia in our data is Shepherdstown, WV, with about 5,089 people per square mile, followed by Morgantown, WV (3,059) and Pea Ridge, WV (2,893). This list ranks the top 37 places among the 37 West Virginia communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 37 in West Virginia?

How dense are the cities in West Virginia?

The densest place is about 3 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 1,717 people per square mile. At the other end, Cheat Lake, WV has about 645. Under our scale, 1 place is an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 30 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Kanawha County contributes 6 of the top 37.

Which counties do the top 37 belong to?

The 37 places on this list are spread across 23 counties of West Virginia. Kanawha County has 6 (St. Albans, Dunbar, South Charleston, Charleston, Cross Lanes, Nitro); Jefferson County has 3 (Shepherdstown, Charles Town, Ranson); Monongalia County has 3 (Morgantown, Brookhaven, Cheat Lake). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does West Virginia compare with the rest of the country?

The median West Virginia place with a page has about 9,274 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. The state has 401 communities in total, of which 37 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about West Virginia cities

• Which is the densest city in West Virginia? Shepherdstown (5,089 per square mile).
• How many West Virginia cities have more than 100,000 people? 2 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 8.
• What is the typical size? About 9,274 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.