PinchWV
A town of 4,037, settled in 1921.
Is Pinch a good place to live?
Pinch grades C overall, ranked 33rd of 61 in West Virginia, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $77K. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Only 3 of West Virginia’s 141 towns score lower on history.
Pinch has shrunk 11% from 2010 to 2020
3,262 counted in 2010 and 2,914 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Pinch grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Pinch is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Pinch: who provides what
Pinch 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 Pinch.
Pinch looks healthier within West Virginia than nationally and sends most of its workers to Charleston and beyond.
Inland flooding leads a very high hazard risk in Pinch
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Pinch’s schools rank behind 59% of West Virginia districts
Its public schools are run by the Kanawha County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinch Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 282 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
A smaller share of working residents in Pinch work locally than in the typical West Virginia or U.S. town
Pinch has 169 jobs for its 1,125 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. 18.7% of workers work from home, against 9.1% across West Virginia.
1.2% of Pinch working residents work locally, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 8%. 5.1% of residents live below the poverty line in Pinch. The top destinations are Charleston (41%), South Charleston (9%) and St.
| Pinch | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.1% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.2% | 14% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $77,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Health in Pinch trails 71% of U.S. towns
Within West Virginia it is healthier than 83% of the 61 graded towns: much of West Virginia scores lower on these measures.
Pinch beats the West Virginia average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 45% of Pinch adults have high blood pressure, close to West Virginia’s towns (44%) and above U.S. towns (35%). 29% of Pinch adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Pinch | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 44% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 21% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Pinch | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.4% | 19.5% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.9% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Pinch has four seasons and pleasant summers
Pinch 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
A home in Pinch sells for about $380K at the median
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Pinch
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Pinch
About 3 of every 100 Pinch residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across West Virginia.
99% of working residents leave Pinch for work
Where Pinch’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Pinch
Census-designated place in West Virginia, United States
Pinch is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,914 at the 2020 census. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Charleston, adjacent to Elkview and roughly 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Big Chimney. The community lies along the Elk River and is surrounded by rolling hills. The community was named after nearby Pinch Creek.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 715 ft
- ZIP code
- 25156
Pinch’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Pinch.
Pinch reports no FBI crime data of its own. Elkview isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pinch with a neighbor →
Questions about Pinch
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pinch, WV a good place to live?
Pinch grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #33 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Pinch, WV expensive?
The typical home is worth about $222,000, 25% above 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 B.