Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,668, settled in 1905.
Follansbee gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $125K, 2.1 years of the Weirton metro’s $59K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 25th of 61 graded towns in West Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its schools rank behind 93% of the state's and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 82% of the country. Only 3 of West Virginia’s 33 towns score higher on safety. Market Street Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 4 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than Follansbee.
Where Follansbee beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Brooke Intermediate School North | 3–4 | 172 |
Where Follansbee’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 Follansbee is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for schools (better than 7%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,031 in 1910, a peak of 4,841 in 1930, 2,848 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 5 maps from 1904 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Follansbee, 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 Follansbee.
Follansbee fares better on crime within West Virginia than nationally, sends many workers across the state line to Steubenville and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
Its one school is below. The Brooke County Schools runs its public schools. Enrollment at Follansbee’s public school: 172 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooke Intermediate School NorthLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–4 | Grades 3–4 | 172 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
Within West Virginia it is healthier than 67% of the 61 graded towns: much of West Virginia scores lower on these measures.
In Follansbee, 17% of adults smoke cigarettes, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 14%. Follansbee: 43% of adults have high blood pressure. Two figures for adults here: 29% have been diagnosed with depression, 20% report frequent mental distress.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 40% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 44% | 35% |
| What stands out | Follansbee | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.6% | 19.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.2% | 16.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
26% of working residents cross a state line to work, Steubenville among the top destinations. Jobs based here fell from 902 in 2013 to 684.
The top destinations are Weirton (17%), Wellsburg (6%) and Wheeling (5%). Jobs in Follansbee fell by 218 from 2013 to 2023, to 684. In Follansbee, 8.1% of residents live below the poverty line, below both West Virginia’s towns (17%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Also worth knowing: the town’s average commute comes in at 20 minutes.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 8.1% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.8% | 14% | 8% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 93% of West Virginia’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 17 to 41 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Follansbee’s level of property crime is 14.3 per 1,000 residents. Its violent offense rate comes in at 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.3 per 1,000 residents | 16.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 2.1 years of the Weirton metro’s $59K median household income, the typical home (about $125K) costs less against local pay than in 90% of West Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Zillow values the typical Follansbee home at about $125,000, up 3.8% in a year, 29% below the West Virginia typical home. The median rent for Follansbee comes to $642 a month. The share of households in Follansbee who own their home: 63%.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $642 a month | $882 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Households in Follansbee have drawn federal disaster aid in 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2018. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 71% of U.S. communities. The town has had 17 paid flood insurance claims since 1980. FEMA puts 91% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
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
Adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide); children under 18 are 13% of residents (20% statewide). The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Follansbee at 2,668 residents, down 6.4% since 2020. 23% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more here.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.9 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 21% | 18% |
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.5 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Follansbee | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.4% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.9% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.7% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 5.8% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 26.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.5% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0.8% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 52.3% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.2% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.8% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.5% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.3% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,700, single groups can be off by several points
0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. For Follansbee, the trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile. The town has one park or preserve, 6 acres in all.
| Follansbee | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 2.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Follansbee Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Follansbee. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
7 mi MuseumMeadowcroft Rockshelter
32 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
32 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
39 mi Theme parkKennywood
33 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints ArenaAcrisure Stadium: Fo2grfr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Meadowcroft Rockshelter: Lee Paxton, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Duquesne: Sébastien Paquin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PNC Park: alpineinc, CC BY 2.0 · Kennywood: Ski2007 of English Wikipedia, Public domain · PPG Paints Arena: Jleedev, CC BY-SA 4.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Follansbee
About 7 of every 100 Follansbee residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across West Virginia.
5 notable people were born in Follansbee.
City in West Virginia, US
Follansbee is a city in Brooke County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 2,853 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 2,986 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Follansbee.
| Town | WV rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follansbee | #25 | C+ | A+ | B+ | D | C− |
| Hooverson Heights | — | — | A | — | D | D |
Hooverson Heights has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Hooverson Heights reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Follansbee with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Follansbee grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #25 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades C− for health, B+ for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
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+.
5 notable people were born here, including Anthony di Bonaventura and Dave Augustine.
.jpg){kind=link}
