LivingCostFacts / county

Kanawha County, WV: cost of living

Compare HUD rent benchmarks with household income in Kanawha County, West Virginia. These figures describe area-wide conditions rather than a personal budget.

Charleston, WV metro RPP: 88.7 (BEA 2024; U.S. = 100). Regional context, not a county-specific price estimate.

BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10

$1,048
2BR monthly rent

HUD FY2027

20.6%
Rent / household income

Annual 2BR FMR ÷ ACS median income

$60,943
Median household income

ACS 2020–2024

$147,300
Median home value

Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024

Read the local picture

Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.

2BR rent: county vs state vs US

HUD FY2027 monthly gross FMR. State and U.S. values are population-weighted county means. Dollars per month.

  1. Kanawha County$1,048
  2. West Virginia$1,039
  3. United States$1,761
0$1,761

Put the benchmark in context

The rent-to-income comparison uses 12 months of the 2BR FMR divided by median household income. It compares different vintages and all household types; it is not the share of renter households that are cost burdened.

Annual income vs annual 2BR rent

ACS 2020–2024 median household income and 12 × HUD FY2027 2BR FMR. Dollars per year; separate vintages and household groups.

  1. Median household income$60,943
  2. Annual 2BR rent$12,576
0$60,943

Income remaining after this rent benchmark is $48,367 per year, before taxes, food, transport, health care and other expenses.

This county or equivalent belongs to the Charleston, WV metro area. Its 2024 metro-wide all-items RPP is 88.7. A metro RPP is not a county-specific price estimate.

The data in view

Monthly rent by bedroom

HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.

  1. Studio$730
  2. 1 bedroom$844
  3. 2 bedrooms$1,048
  4. 3 bedrooms$1,324
  5. 4 bedrooms$1,377
0$1,377

Charleston, WV: RPP components

BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.

  1. All items88.7
  2. Goods96.3
  3. Housing rents51.4
  4. Utilities91.7
  5. Other services99.8
0100.0

Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.

Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom

HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.

Home sizeFY2027 monthly gross rent
Studio$730
1 bedroom$844
2 bedrooms$1,048
3 bedrooms$1,324
4 bedrooms$1,377

Homeownership and population

Property taxes are for owner-occupied homes, not a renter charge. A + marks a Census top-coded estimate.

MeasureValue
Median annual real estate taxes paid$964
Population used for weighting (HUD pop2024)176,537

Compare rent and income

State and U.S. rents are population-weighted means of available county benchmarks; income is the published ACS median.

Area2BR rent / monthMedian household income
Kanawha County$1,048$60,943
West Virginia$1,039$59,608
United States$1,761$80,734