Coal ForkWV
A town of 1,423, settled in 1910.
Is Coal Fork a good place to live?
The best of Coal Fork’s subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for hazard risk. No town in West Virginia scores higher than Coal Fork on cost of living. Residents are less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Only 7 of West Virginia’s 140 towns score higher on incomes. Coal Fork has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Coal Fork has shrunk 16% from 2010 to 2020
1,233 counted in 2010 and 1,039 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Coal Fork grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Coal Fork is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Coal Fork: who provides what
Coal Fork is unincorporated, so Kanawha County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Coal Fork.
Very high risk in Coal Fork, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 91% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Coal Fork earns a D for health
46% of Coal Fork adults have high blood pressure, above both West Virginia’s towns (44%) and U.S. towns (35%). 29% of Coal Fork adults have been diagnosed with depression. Coal Fork beats the West Virginia average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Coal Fork | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 44% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| What stands out | Coal Fork | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 7.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 62.6% | 55.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with most of West Virginia and the rest of the country, fewer of Coal Fork’s residents live below the poverty line
2.3% of Coal Fork residents live below the poverty line, below both the West Virginia town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). 0.5% of working residents work locally in Coal Fork. Jobs based in Coal Fork fell to 56 in 2023, 76 fewer than in 2013.
| Coal Fork | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.3% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 14% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Coal Fork
Coal Fork has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 25° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Older than West Virginia overall
People 65 and older are 25% of residents (21% statewide). The median age in Coal Fork is 49.5 years. 17% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 24% across West Virginia.
| Coal Fork | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.5 years | 42.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 17% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 27% and 84% women
The Census survey reached too few of Coal Fork’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±28.3 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Coal Fork | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.3% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.1% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 24.3% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.4% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.6% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 60.6% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.7% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 0.8% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 9.2% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.1% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,400, single groups can be off by several points
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Coal Fork
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Coal Fork
About 4 of every 100 Coal Fork residents are enrolled in college, about the same as West Virginia.
1,423 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
About Coal Fork
Census-designated place in West Virginia, United States
Coal Fork is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of a larger unincorporated community known as Campbells Creek, approximately 10 minutes east of Charleston. The population was 1,039 at the 2020 census (down from 1,233 at the 2010 census).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 659 ft
Questions about Coal Fork
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Coal Fork, WV expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.