
West Virginia · Census place 21316
Despard, WV population, income and ZIP codes
Quick answer
The population of the city of Despard, West Virginia (Despard, WV — Census place “Despard CDP”) is 1,038 residents, ranking #148 of 439 places in West Virginia. Median household income is $33,929, the median home is worth $82,100 and median gross rent runs $596 a month. Looking for the Despard West Virginia ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Despard, WV: 26301.
- Population
- 1,038Despard CDP residents
- Median household income
- $33,929Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $82,100Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $596Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 33.4 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 56%Owner-occupied households
Despard ZIP codes (West Virginia)
Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Despard.
The Despard WV ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.
What the numbers mean in Despard CDP
Housing cost measured against local earnings.
A household earning the Despard CDP median would spend about 21.1% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 2.4× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 26.1% of residents and 56% of households own their home.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Despard CDP, WV in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Despard CDP is a small town in West Virginia, with 1,038 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #148 of 439 ranked by population — larger than 66% of them. The median age here is 33.4 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.
Households in Despard CDP earn a median of $33,929 a year, 56.8% below the national figure of $78,538 and 36% below the $52,974 median for the 148 West Virginia cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 26.1% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.
The typical owner-occupied home in Despard CDP is valued at $82,100, 72.9% below the national figure and 35% below the $127,200 peer median, while median gross rent runs $596 a month, 57.6% below the national figure, or roughly $7,152 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 56% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Compare with nearby places
Places of similar size in West Virginia.
- Fort Ashby CDP 1,011
- Glenville town 1,049
- Chapmanville town 1,005
- Marlinton town 1,050
- Carpendale town 1,053
- Poca town 1,056
- Bethany town 1,066
- Enterprise CDP 1,084
Keep going
More West Virginia coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Despard CDP?
- Despard CDP has 1,038 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #148 of 439 in West Virginia.
- What is the median household income in Despard CDP?
- Median household income in Despard CDP is $33,929 a year, 56.8% below the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Despard CDP?
- Median gross rent is $596 a month and the median home value is $82,100, so rent absorbs about 21.1% of median household income.
- Is Despard CDP affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 2.4× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Despard CDP is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Despard CDP data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.