?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Pick an HQ · West Virginia

Best cities to put your HQ in West Virginia

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Pick an HQ” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Weirton, WV19k residents

    63/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 24.2% · avg. weekly wage: $1,056/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  2. 2.Wheeling, WV26k residents

    60/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 34.1% · avg. weekly wage: $1,097/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  3. 3.Fairmont, WV18k residents

    52/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 32.9% · avg. weekly wage: $1,095/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  4. 4.Parkersburg, WV29k residents

    50/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 21% · avg. weekly wage: $1,093/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  5. 5.Morgantown, WV30k residents

    48/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 58.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,309/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  6. 6.Huntington, WV46k residents

    47/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 35.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,180/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  7. 7.Beckley, WV17k residents

    47/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 29.2% · avg. weekly wage: $1,064/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  8. 8.Martinsburg, WV19k residents

    43/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 24.7% · avg. weekly wage: $1,171/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  9. 9.Clarksburg, WV16k residents

    42/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 25.7% · avg. weekly wage: $1,264/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

  10. 10.Charleston, WV47k residents

    40/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 45.2% · avg. weekly wage: $1,240/wk · corporate income tax: 6.5%

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to put your HQ in West Virginia?
Weirton, WV ranks first with a fit score of 63/100, followed by Wheeling (60) and Fairmont (52), using the "Pick an HQ" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.