Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,520. Public schools that outperform most of West Virginia.
Bethlehem is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, 3rd among West Virginia's 61 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 91% of West Virginia towns on state tests and graduation. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $83K. A typical home there costs about $220K, 3.8 years of the Wheeling metro’s $57K median household income. On health, just 5 of West Virginia’s 141 towns do better.
Where Bethlehem beats most towns.
Where Bethlehem’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Bethlehem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,146 in 1950, 2,605 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 8 maps from 1902 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Bethlehem, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem is among the three healthiest towns in West Virginia, carries less natural-hazard risk than most of West Virginia (mostly inland flooding) and has commutes shorter than most of West Virginia.
Its public schools are run by the Ohio County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 125 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 1,337 working residents takes 18.9 minutes, against 26.6 across West Virginia.
Most working residents leave Bethlehem for work: only 2% work in town. Bethlehem’s average trip to work is 19 minutes, below both the West Virginia town median (21 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Bethlehem has added 131 jobs, to 889 in 2023.
| Bethlehem | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 14% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
88% of households own their home in Bethlehem, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 68% and U.S. towns at 73%. Bethlehem’s median rent is $1,339 a month. The typical Bethlehem home is worth about $220,000, up 4.4% in a year, 25% above the West Virginia typical home.
| Bethlehem | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,339 a month | $874 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 82% of West Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $180 per resident a year; that rating is what its B+ for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Bethlehem is 32 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bethlehem has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 22° and about 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
It ranks #3 of the 61 West Virginia towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with West Virginia is food insecurity: 7.7% of its 2,094 adults worry about having enough food, against 16.2% statewide.
12% of adults smoke cigarettes in Bethlehem. Only 2 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a lower share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Bethlehem. 37% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Bethlehem.
| Bethlehem | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 18% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 7.7% | 17% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 25% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 32% | 25% |
| What stands out | Bethlehem | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 16.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.1% | 11% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Bethlehem | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 2.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bethlehem Community Park | 0.5 mi | 12 |
| 2. BOPP Playground | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bethlehem. Close and well known come first.
19 mi MuseumMeadowcroft Rockshelter
10 mi Ancient siteGrave Creek Mound
3 mi Stadium & arenaWesBanco Arena
4 mi GardenOglebay Park
3 mi MuseumWest Virginia Independence Hall
40 mi AttractionChester teapotMeadowcroft Rockshelter: Lee Paxton, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grave Creek Mound: Shonebrooks, CC0 · WesBanco Arena: Jgera5 at English Wikipedia, CC0 · Oglebay Park: Morganismysheltie (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · West Virginia Independence Hall: Nyttend, Public domain · Chester teapot: Navy2004, CC BY-SA 3.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Bethlehem
About 4 of every 100 Bethlehem residents are enrolled in college, about the same as West Virginia.
Village in West Virginia, US
Bethlehem is a village in Ohio County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,605 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Bethlehem.
Bethlehem reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Bethlehem with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Bethlehem grades A overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #3 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades B for health and A for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
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