Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Residents are less healthy than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Overall it grades C, 35th among West Virginia's 61 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 86% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 42 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops and Aspen Hall. Only 10 of West Virginia’s 141 towns score lower on cost of living. Martinsburg is home to Valley College-Martinsburg.
Where Martinsburg beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 2,190 in 1850, 18,777 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1789 and 5 maps from 1914 on.
29 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Martinsburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Martinsburg. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi LandmarkRaven Rock Mountain Complex
Big draw28 mi LandmarkMount Weather Emergency Operations Center
40 mi National ParkShenandoah National Park1.7M visitors a year
12 mi National BattlefieldAntietam National Battlefield161K visitors a year
14 mi National Historical ParkHarpers Ferry National Historical Park538K visitors a year
7 mi National Historical ParkChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park4.6M visitors a yearRaven Rock Mountain Complex: US Government, Public domain · Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center: Unknown, Public domain · Shenandoah National Park: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Antietam National Battlefield: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: Mark Fickett, CC BY 3.0 · Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park: Bonnachoven, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Martinsburg, 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 Martinsburg.
Martinsburg carries less natural-hazard risk than most of West Virginia (mostly inland flooding), sends many workers across the state line to Winchester and is mostly renters.
The median property tax bill is $1,529, against $865 across West Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Home values are up 3.3% over the year to September 2026. 48% of Martinsburg households live in a home they own, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 68% and U.S. towns at 73%. Only 5 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a higher rent at the middle of the market than Martinsburg. Also worth knowing: on the market locally: a median 43 days to sell.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,150 a month | $874 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Three of the 10 schools are below, and why each made the list. Its public schools are run by the Berkeley County Schools. Public school enrollment in Martinsburg: 2,677 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martinsburg South Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 787 | C− |
| Martinsburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,505 | B− |
| Burke Street Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 158 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
35% of Martinsburg adults feel lonely, near the West Virginia town median (34%) and above the median of U.S. towns (33%). Only 3 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Martinsburg. Among adults here, 24% report frequent mental distress. Of 32 CDC measures, Martinsburg beats the West Virginia average on 1 and trails it on 9.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 21% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| What stands out | Martinsburg | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 16.1% | 11% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 83% of West Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $197 per resident a year; that rating is what its B+ for hazard risk is built on.
Flood insurance has paid out on 30 claims in Martinsburg since 1978. Its risk rating from FEMA is 31 of 100. Two thirds of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 9%. Federal aid has come to Martinsburg households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2012.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
31% of working residents cross a state line to work, Winchester among the top destinations.
Employers in Martinsburg added 1,272 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 12,380. Only 18% of working residents stay in Martinsburg for work; the rest commute out. In Martinsburg, a fifth of residents live below the poverty line. Half the trips to work are shorter than 8 miles.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.8% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For Martinsburg, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 9.9 per 1,000 residents. Martinsburg's reported crime rate is below West Virginia's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 44 violent crimes were reported in 2023.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 9.9 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 13.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.7 | 1.8 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
Only 47.9% of households own their home, against 74.9% across West Virginia.
People 65 and older are 16% of residents (21% statewide). For Martinsburg, the median age is 37.4 years. Since 2020, Martinsburg has grown 2.5%, to 19,211 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Among adults 25 and older, 25% have a four-year degree or more, against 24% across West Virginia.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.4 years | 42.3 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 21% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 29% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.7 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Martinsburg | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.1% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.5% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.2% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.2% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.6% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.3% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.3% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.8% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.9% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The density of trails for Martinsburg comes to 0.1 miles per square mile. 0.7 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is War Memorial Park, at 20 acres.
| Martinsburg | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 2.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. War Memorial Park | — | 20 |
| 2. Oatesdale Park | — | 16 |
| 3. Charlotte Prather Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Martinsburg
About 6 of every 100 Martinsburg residents are enrolled in college, about the same as West Virginia.
29 places in Martinsburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
36 notable people were born in Martinsburg.
City in West Virginia, United States
Martinsburg is a city in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,773 at the 2020 census, making Martinsburg the largest city in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and the sixth-most populous city in the state. It is a principal city of the Hagerstown–Martinsburg metropolitan area extending into Maryland, which had 293,844 residents in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Martinsburg grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #35 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades D− for health and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4 years of the area's median household income ($78,802 across the Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
36 notable people were born here, including Newton Diehl Baker Jr. and Harry F. Byrd.
