ShannondaleWV
A town of 3,465.
Is Shannondale a good place to live?
Shannondale gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $294K for a typical one, or 2.3 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. It grades C overall, 36th of 61 graded towns in West Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 78% of the country. On the plus side, it has 18 miles of trail and 34% conserved land. Shannondale’s average trip to work is 49 minutes, against 21 minutes in West Virginia’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. No town in West Virginia scores lower than Shannondale on walkability. Shannondale has 2 places on the National Register.
What makes Shannondale stand out
Where Shannondale beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Shannondale for work
Where Shannondale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Shannondale grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far Shannondale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center and 43 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shannondale. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi LandmarkMount Weather Emergency Operations Center
29 mi MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center1.6M visitors a year
29 mi National ParkShenandoah National Park1.7M visitors a year
5 mi National Historical ParkHarpers Ferry National Historical Park538K visitors a year
40 mi LandmarkCIA Memorial Wall
16 mi National BattlefieldAntietam National Battlefield161K visitors a yearPhoto credits
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center: Unknown, Public domain · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Shenandoah National Park: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: Mark Fickett, CC BY 3.0 · CIA Memorial Wall: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Antietam National Battlefield: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0
Moving to Shannondale: who provides what
Shannondale is unincorporated, so Jefferson 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 Shannondale.
Shannondale trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, sends many workers across the state line to Frederick and keeps more of its land conserved than most of West Virginia.
Conserved land covers nearly a third of Shannondale
Its 1,866 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other West Virginia town. Its A for the outdoors ranks #3 of 61 in West Virginia.
Shannondale’s trail density is 2.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Shannondale Springs Wildlife Management Area, 1,271 acres with 13.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shannondale Springs Wildlife Management Area | 13.2 mi | 1,271 |
| 2. Appalachian National Scenic Trail | 0.9 mi | 124 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Shannondale’s public schools trail 55% of West Virginia districts
Its public schools are run by the Jefferson County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Ridge Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 372 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
For health, Shannondale earns a C−
Within West Virginia it is healthier than 72% of the 61 graded towns: much of West Virginia scores lower on these measures.
30% of adults feel lonely in Shannondale. Shannondale beats the West Virginia average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 20% of adults report frequent mental distress in Shannondale.
| Shannondale | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 31% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 44% | 35% |
| What stands out | Shannondale | WV |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.2% | 19.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.3% | 4.2% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 75.7% | 79.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Shannondale
48% of working residents cross a state line to work, Frederick among the top destinations. Shannondale has 88 jobs for its 1,505 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Shannondale for work: only 2% work in town. Only 5 of the 61 West Virginia towns we compare have a higher share of workers working from home than Shannondale. 13% of Shannondale residents live below the poverty line.
| Shannondale | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 14% | 8% |
| Work from home | 15% | 9.8% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Shannondale, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Shannondale has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 24° and about 23 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More middle-aged adults than West Virginia overall
Adults 35 to 64 are 46% of residents (38% statewide); people 65 and older are 16% of residents (21% statewide). 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 24% across West Virginia.
| Shannondale | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 21% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.4 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.7 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Shannondale | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.3% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.6% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.7% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.5% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.5% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.5% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.5% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.4% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,500, single groups can be off by several points
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Shannondale
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Shannondale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Shannondale sells for about $375K at the median
Homes are within reach (A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 24 miles. At 2.3 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 80% of West Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
The median rent in Shannondale is $1,269 a month.
| Shannondale | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,269 a month | $874 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Shannondale
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Shannondale
About 6 of every 100 Shannondale residents are enrolled in college, about the same as West Virginia.
About Shannondale
Census-designated place in West Virginia, United States
Shannondale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,487 (up from 3,358 at the 2010 census).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 8.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 561 ft
Questions about Shannondale
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Shannondale, WV a good place to live?
Shannondale grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #36 of 61 in West Virginia. It grades C− for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Shannondale, WV expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $294,000, 66% 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 A−.