The US State With The Highest Home Ownership Rate Is Considered One Of The Worst To Live In

Owning a home is an essential piece to the American dream and, since homeownership requires some pretty hefty savings to pull off, it's also a solid barometer of an individual's finance journey. But in the state with the nation's highest homeownership rate, that dream comes with a surprising catch. 

According to USAFacts, 79.1% of households in West Virginia own their home. It's also one of the most affordable states to buy a home, with a median sale value of $225,506, according to Rocket Mortgage. Seeing as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports the national median home price for 2025's Q2 is $410,800, West Virginia seems downright affordable by comparison. But all this comes at a cost: Part of the reason West Virginia's homeownership rate is so far below the national homeownership average of 65.6% that USAFacts' reports is that West Virginia is one of the worst places to live in the United States. Despite its strong showing in affordability and safety, the 2025 WalletHub Best States to Live In study labeled West Virginia as No. 42 out of 50. The low ranking showcases that, while West Virginia may lead the country in home affordability, its shortfall in quality of life may make it unsuitable for many.

By WalletHub's standards, West Virginia falls short in a number of important categories, including its economy, education, and healthcare. While the Federal Reserve reports the state's unemployment stands at a relatively low 3.8% as of August 2025, other economic metrics aren't as favorable. For example, a recent report from West Virginia University found that per capita income growth has been slower than the national average since 2011. And in 2024, Oxfam America ranked it as one of the worst states to work in. West Virginia is also one of the poorest states in the nation, with 16.7% of its residents living below the poverty line, according to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy's analysis of 2023 Census Bureau data.

WalletHub's Education and health rankings were based on factors including public school quality, high school graduation rates, premature death rates, and hospital quality. On the education front, a separate WalletHub study found that the state was among the 10 worst in terms of education. Meanwhile, The Commonwealth Fund ranks it in the bottom five states in terms of healthcare and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities reports an alarmingly high premature death rate of 625 per 100,000 people. All things considered, the Mountain State's quality of life leaves something to be desired. It stands in sharp contrast to a place like Vermont, which also has a high homeownership but ranks among the best places to live.