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2016-09-27 12 32 38 The Jefferson County Court House at the intersection of West Virginia State Route 115 (George Street) and West Virginia State Route 51 (Washington Street) in Charles Town, Jefferson County, West VirginiaCharles Town, #1 on this list · Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
West Virginia rankings · Growth

Fastest-growing towns in West Virginia

Charles Town has grown fastest of West Virginia’s 50 towns of 2,500+: up 42.8% from 6,531 residents in April 2020 to an estimated 9,329 in July 2025 (Census Bureau estimates). The typical town here changed −4.2%; 42 of the 50 lost residents.

Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025: July 1, 2025 against the April 2020 base, both on January 2025 town lines (people a town annexed are in its base, not its growth). Estimates, not counts. Unincorporated communities (census-designated places) get no estimate, so they aren’t listed. A described list: no letters. How grades work

#1

Charles Town

Jefferson County
+42.8%

6,531 in 2020·9,329 in 2025·+2,798 people

#3

Hurricane

Putnam County
+6.0%

6,951 in 2020·7,367 in 2025·+416 people

All 50 towns

Growth since 2020, highest first.

50 towns ranked. Not here? See why a town may be missing.

#TownGrowth since 2020People addedResidents
1Charles TownJefferson County+42.8%+2,7986,531 → 9,329April 2020 → July 2025
2Ranson corporationJefferson County+25.8%+1,4075,446 → 6,853April 2020 → July 2025
3HurricanePutnam County+6.0%+4166,951 → 7,367April 2020 → July 2025
4MoorefieldHardy County+5.1%+1292,526 → 2,655April 2020 → July 2025
5WestoverMonongalia County+3.0%+1203,966 → 4,086April 2020 → July 2025
6MartinsburgBerkeley County+2.5%+46818,743 → 19,211April 2020 → July 2025
7BridgeportHarrison County+2.0%+1859,242 → 9,427April 2020 → July 2025
8MorgantownMonongalia County+0.8%+23130,062 → 30,293April 2020 → July 2025
9PhilippiBarbour County−1.0%−302,876 → 2,846April 2020 → July 2025
10Pleasant ValleyMarion County−1.1%−383,495 → 3,457April 2020 → July 2025
11KingwoodPreston County−1.5%−442,981 → 2,937April 2020 → July 2025
12RipleyJackson County−1.5%−463,084 → 3,038April 2020 → July 2025
13RavenswoodJackson County−1.7%−673,857 → 3,790April 2020 → July 2025
14KeyserMineral County−1.9%−934,870 → 4,777April 2020 → July 2025
15FairmontMarion County−2.1%−38118,416 → 18,035April 2020 → July 2025
16MiltonCabell County−2.1%−612,853 → 2,792April 2020 → July 2025
17WilliamstownWood County−2.3%−682,990 → 2,922April 2020 → July 2025
18BuckhannonUpshur County−2.6%−1375,191 → 5,054April 2020 → July 2025
19BarboursvilleCabell County−3.0%−1324,439 → 4,307April 2020 → July 2025
20ViennaWood County−3.1%−33310,654 → 10,321April 2020 → July 2025
21New MartinsvilleWetzel County−3.3%−1735,212 → 5,039April 2020 → July 2025
22ParkersburgWood County−3.7%−1,10529,698 → 28,593April 2020 → July 2025
23SummersvilleNicholas County−3.9%−1333,430 → 3,297April 2020 → July 2025
24BethlehemOhio County−3.9%−1022,622 → 2,520April 2020 → July 2025
25GraftonTaylor County−4.0%−1894,718 → 4,529April 2020 → July 2025
26HuntingtonCabell County−4.4%−2,06446,879 → 44,815April 2020 → July 2025
27ElkinsRandolph County−4.5%−3146,936 → 6,622April 2020 → July 2025
28ClarksburgHarrison County−4.7%−75916,321 → 15,562April 2020 → July 2025
29Point PleasantMason County−4.7%−1924,061 → 3,869April 2020 → July 2025
30WheelingOhio County−4.9%−1,32327,003 → 25,680April 2020 → July 2025
31PrincetonMercer County−5.0%−2925,870 → 5,578April 2020 → July 2025
32NitroKanawha County−5.0%−3316,601 → 6,270April 2020 → July 2025
33BluefieldMercer County−5.0%−4859,643 → 9,158April 2020 → July 2025
34BeckleyRaleigh County−5.2%−89617,269 → 16,373April 2020 → July 2025
35WestonLewis County−5.3%−2083,944 → 3,736April 2020 → July 2025
36LewisburgGreenbrier County−5.3%−2103,931 → 3,721April 2020 → July 2025
37MoundsvilleMarshall County−5.4%−4358,094 → 7,659April 2020 → July 2025
38WeirtonHancock County−5.4%−1,03719,170 → 18,133April 2020 → July 2025
39CharlestonKanawha County−5.5%−2,69348,810 → 46,117April 2020 → July 2025
40DunbarKanawha County−5.8%−4347,484 → 7,050April 2020 → July 2025
41South CharlestonKanawha County−5.9%−81413,886 → 13,072April 2020 → July 2025
42St. AlbansKanawha County−6.0%−65110,861 → 10,210April 2020 → July 2025
43FayettevilleFayette County−6.0%−1752,896 → 2,721April 2020 → July 2025
44KenovaWayne County−6.1%−1863,027 → 2,841April 2020 → July 2025
45WelchMcDowell County−6.3%−2273,616 → 3,389April 2020 → July 2025
46Paden CityWetzel County−6.4%−1622,543 → 2,381April 2020 → July 2025
47FollansbeeBrooke County−6.4%−1832,851 → 2,668April 2020 → July 2025
48Oak HillFayette County−6.6%−5358,164 → 7,629April 2020 → July 2025
49MadisonBoone County−7.8%−2252,903 → 2,678April 2020 → July 2025
50WilliamsonMingo County−10.7%−3303,083 → 2,753April 2020 → July 2025
Quick answers

Questions people ask

What is the fastest-growing town in West Virginia?

Charles Town (Jefferson County): it grew 42.8%, from 6,531 residents in April 2020 to an estimated 9,329 in July 2025. Ranson corporation (+25.8%) and Hurricane (+6.0%) follow.

How are these towns ranked?

By the percent change in residents from the Census Bureau’s April 2020 estimates base to its latest July 1 estimate, highest first, on the exact change: two towns shown with the same tenth of a percent keep the order of their unrounded figures, and only an identical change shares a rank (T). The base is the 2020 Census count redrawn on today’s town lines, so a town that annexed land since 2020 changes only by births, deaths and moves, not by the people it took in. How grades work.

Why isn’t my town on this list?

The list covers the towns TownRatings grades that had 2,500+ residents in the 2020 estimates base (50 in West Virginia). Census-designated places (unincorporated communities) have no Census Bureau estimates, so they never appear; a town incorporated since 2020, or one TownRatings merges with its twin township, isn’t listed either. Every town is on the West Virginia page.

Go deeper

More West Virginia lists

Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.

All West Virginia rankings →
Other states

Fastest-growing towns in other states