Living in West Van Lear, KY
West Van Lear is a small town of 1,155 people in Johnson County, Kentucky. It's about 47 miles from Huntington, WV and 132 miles from Cincinnati, OH, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 86°F and winter highs 44°F, with about 6 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $128k and rent runs about $708 a month.
1,155people
$128kTypical home
$708/moRent
86° / 44°Summer / winter
6"Snow
209Sunny days
118Rain/snow days
Is West Van Lear right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small town of 1,155
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 1,062 people per sq mi
- 132 mi to Cincinnati, OH
- 47 mi to Huntington, WV
- 47 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $128k (≈$806/mo)
- Median rent $708/mo
- Median household income $67k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 1.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 86°F
- Winter highs around 44°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 64°F)
- 209 sunny days a year (68 totally clear)
- 156 cloudy days a year
- 53 of 90 winter days are gray
- 118 days a year with rain or snow
- 6" of snow a year
- 3 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 7 nights a year below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (58 per 100k), county-wide
- Very low property crime (188 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 30
- 37% of households have kids
- 11% are 65 or older
- 17% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 7% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 30 min
- 0% walk or take transit to work
- 42 mi to HTS airport
- 134 mi to CVG (major hub)
- 48 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 75% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1980
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 807 ft
- 298 mi to the ocean
- 170 mi to a big lake
- 3 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 45 mi to the nearest ski area
- 7 mi to the nearest campground
- 5 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 60 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- Few or no bars within 25 mi
- 5 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 2 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 10 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 29% of Kentucky districts (reading)
- 3 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 3 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 50 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 2 mi to the nearest vet
- 47 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 20 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Johnson County: R+71 in 2024
- Kentucky: R+31 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Low tornado risk
- High wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk
Limited data: this place is small enough that most of its Census numbers (rent, home value, income, age) are blended with county figures. Treat its match as a rough guide.