Coal ForkWV
Today 1,423 people live in this town, first 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.
Coal Fork has a very high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
Coal Fork’s risk rating from FEMA stands at 91 of 100, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 69 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. FEMA puts 92% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Coal Fork earns a D for health
Nearly a fifth of adults smoke cigarettes in Coal Fork. Among adults locally, 46% have high blood pressure, above both West Virginia’s towns (44%) and U.S. towns (35%).
| 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
The top destinations are Charleston (37%), South Charleston (8%) and Huntington (3%). Of the 62 West Virginia towns we compare, none has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Coal Fork. Jobs locally fell by 76 from 2013 to 2023, to 56. Its average commute is 20 minutes.
| 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: that is Coal Fork’s year
Coal Fork brings chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. Summer afternoons peak near 86° in July, and January nights bottom out around 25°; snowfall runs to about 32 inches a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Coal Fork skews older than West Virginia
People 65 and older are a quarter of residents (21% statewide). Coal Fork’s median age comes in at 49.5 years. The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 17%, against 24% across West Virginia. 17% of Coal Fork residents are under 18.
| 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
More of Coal Fork’s households are owner-occupiers than in the typical West Virginia or U.S. town
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0% of Coal Fork is conserved land
1.5 miles of trail. In Coal Fork, the trail density is 0.3 miles per square mile.
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. The typical home is worth about $101,000, 43% below the West Virginia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.