Bethany is a tiny town located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 756 people and just one neighborhood, Bethany is the 168th largest community in West Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Bethany was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Bethany is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 91.03% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Bethany is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Bethany who work in food service (22.33%), sales jobs (21.37%), and teaching (12.60%).
The overall crime rate in Bethany is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime.
As is often the case in a small town, Bethany doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The citizens of Bethany are among the most well-educated in the nation: 49.61% of adults in Bethany have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Bethany in 2022 was $14,817, which is low income relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $59,268 for a family of four. However, Bethany contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Bethany is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Bethany home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bethany residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Bethany include English, Italian, German, Irish, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Bethany is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
One of the really interesting characteristics about the neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 1.8% of college-friendly places to live in the state of West Virginia. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees.
In addition, an extraordinary 21.8% of the residents of the neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.
More people in choose to walk to work each day (15.1%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Croatian and Russian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Croatian ancestry and 4.6% have Russian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 18.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Bethany are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 66.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 7.1% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 57.7% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 32.6% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 31.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (19.2%), and 16.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.2% of households. Some people also speak Italian (18.6%).
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Bethany, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (24.0%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (16.7%), and residents who report English roots (9.9%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.4%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (5.1%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (75.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (15.1%) and 6.0% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.