Moving to
Cross Lanes.

All Cross Lanes data Compare Cross Lanes

9,671people live here $63,537median household income▼ 21% below US $949median rent per month▼ 33% below US $153,800median home value▼ 54% below US

Cross Lanes is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, WV. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Cross Lanes

Cross Lanes is an unincorporated community in West Virginia with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, a growing population, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Cross Lanes deals with household incomes below the national average, cold winters, fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city, and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.

The good

Rent below the national average
Affordable home prices
Growing population
Average class sizes

The not so good

Below-average household incomes
Cold winters
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Cross Lanes compares

Median household income

Cross Lanes$63,537

West Virginia avg$59,608

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Cross Lanes$949

West Virginia avg$872

US$1,413

Median home value

Cross Lanes$153,800

West Virginia avg$162,600

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Cross Lanes

Based on Cross Lanes's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$1,898

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $37,960 a year
37% of Cross Lanes renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$30,760

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $15,380
Homes cost 2.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▼ 33% below US

$949/mo median rent

Rent here is genuinely low, with median rent around $949 a month. Factoring in local incomes, the value gets even better. Money stretches further here than in most of the country. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $153,800. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $153,800 · 37% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.1% county unemployment

Unemployment in Kanawha County is 4.1%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Kanawha County (county-wide)

Safety

402 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Cross Lanes doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1213/100k · Policed by Kanawha County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

26 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 25.8 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 10% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

81%

Work from home

9.5%

Carpool

7.4%

Public transit

1.3%

Other

0.9%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 85°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 25°F and snow a regular occurrence. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 10% below US

32% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 32% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Gauley River National Recreation Area (45 miles away). There are 4 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Cross Lanes's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and cold winters. A year of median rent ($949/mo) equals 18% of the median household income here, less than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Cross Lanes →·All West Virginia cities →