Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,841, settled in 1859.
Kenova gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $134K, 2.2 years of the Huntington metro’s $60K median household income. It grades A− overall, 7th of 61 graded towns in West Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. On the plus side, it reports less crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns. Kenova’s average trip to work is 11 minutes, below both West Virginia’s towns (21 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). No town in West Virginia scores higher than Kenova on walkability. The biggest park or preserve is Virginia Point Park, at 20 acres.
Where Kenova beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Kenova | WV |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 29.2% | 19.5% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Kenova is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 1%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 863 in 1900, a peak of 4,860 in 1970, 3,033 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1912 and 2 maps from 1903 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kenova, 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 Kenova.
Kenova pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the West Virginia norm and fares better on crime within West Virginia than nationally, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Kenova beats the West Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 24% of adults smoke cigarettes in Kenova. Among 61 West Virginia towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Kenova.
| Kenova | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 40% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
| What stands out | Kenova | WV |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 29.2% | 19.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14.2% | 11% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 20.7% | 16.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Wayne County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceredo-Kenova ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 632 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
At 8.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 100% of West Virginia’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Kenova’s property crime rate is 6.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Kenova | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.7 per 1,000 residents | 16.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Only 53% of households own their home, against 74.9% across West Virginia.
Adults 18 to 34 are 31% of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 30% of residents (38% statewide). 14% of Kenova adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Kenova has lost 6.1% of its people since 2020, down to 2,841 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Kenova | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 14% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.6 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.8 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 82% are men (WV 52%).
| Kenova | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.4% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19.1% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.9% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.5% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.3% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.5% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.2% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 45.1% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.8% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.6% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 8.3% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Kenova grades A− overall with a typical home of about $134K, below the West Virginia typical value; only 1 of the 5 West Virginia towns graded A− or better can say that. At 2.2 years of the Huntington metro’s $60K median household income, the typical home (about $134K) costs less against local pay than in 85% of West Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living.
Only 5 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a lower share of households owning their home than Kenova. The typical Kenova home is worth about $134,000, down 1.5% in a year, 24% below the West Virginia typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Kenova has chilly winters and warm summers. The July high in Kenova is 87°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 1,677 in 2013 to 1,217. The average commute for its 977 working residents takes 10.8 minutes, against 26.6 across West Virginia.
Most working residents leave Kenova for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Kenova fell to 1,217 in 2023, 460 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Huntington (32%), Charleston (5%) and Ashland (4%).
| Kenova | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 9% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 9% | 14% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kenova.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Kenova | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 2.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Virginia Point Park | — | 20 |
| 2. Harold Perdue Memorial Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kenova. Close and well known come first.
3 mi Theme parkCamden Park
21 mi National forestWayne National Forest
8 mi MuseumHuntington Museum of Art
7 mi MuseumHeritage Farm Museum and Village6 mi MuseumMuseum of Radio and TechnologyCamden Park: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Wayne National Forest: Forest Service, USDA, Public domain · Huntington Museum of Art: Daderot, CC0 · Heritage Farm Museum and Village: Zeo1989, CC BY-SA 4.0
6 within 15 miles of the center of Kenova
About 3 of every 100 Kenova residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across West Virginia.
4 notable people were born in Kenova.
City in West Virginia, US
Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. The city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va), owing to its location where the three states met before the creation of West Virginia. The population was 3,030 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. Kenova was also formerly known as Morganza and Virginia Point.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Kenova.
Ceredo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Kenova with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Kenova grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #7 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades D− for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Health 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+.
4 notable people were born here, including Michael W. Smith and Don Eddy.
