Spelter, WV
Harrison County · West Virginia · United States
Home to 105 people across 0.495 square miles.
At a glance
26438 by the numbers
Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.
Location
Where 26438 is
| Coordinates | 39.343177, -80.316362 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/New_York |
| County | Harrison County |
| State | West Virginia (WV) |
| Land area | 0.495 mi² |
| Coordinate source | Census ZCTA internal point |
Local time
America/New_York
Current weather
Live from the National Weather Service
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Distance to major cities
Straight-line, computed from coordinates
| Philadelphia, PA | 277.2 mi |
|---|---|
| New York, NY | 346.9 mi |
| Chicago, IL | 421.5 mi |
| Atlanta, GA | 447.6 mi |
People
Who lives in 26438
105 residents in 89 households, averaging 1.18 people per household. The largest age group is 25-34 at 40.0% of residents, and 88.8% of households are a single person living alone.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 89 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 1.18 |
| Family households | 11.2% |
| Living alone | 88.8% |
| Median age | 53 years |
| Households with internet | 5.6% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 26438
Income data is suppressed for this ZIP code.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | — ±— |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $46,320 |
| Poverty rate | 0.0% |
| Unemployment rate | 0.0% |
| Labor force participation | 64.8% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 0.0% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 100.0% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 26438
Housing cost data is suppressed for this ZIP code.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | — |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | —/mo |
| Median year built | 1938 |
| Housing units | 89 |
| Vacancy rate | 0.0% |
Own vs. rent
Of 89 occupied units
| Owner households | 42 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 47 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 26438 commutes
100.0% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 14.1 minutes.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 14.1 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 26438
ZIP code 26438 is assigned to Spelter, WV, and falls within Harrison County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 105 people live inside it.
At 212 residents per square mile spread over 0.495 square miles, 26438 reads as a small-town area. It is a sparsely populated postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.
Living here
What life in Spelter looks like
The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 100.0% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1938, making the housing here largely pre-war. At 0.0%, vacancy is low — housing here is tightly held.
The population skews considerably older than the national median, with a median age of 53 against 42 nationally. Households average just 1.18 people, and 88.8% consist of one person living alone — a signature of areas with a lot of studio and one-bedroom stock.
Getting to work takes 14.1 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 100.0% of workers.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Spelter, WV
Spelter is a smaller community, so options inside 26438 may be limited to a handful of independent inns, motels or bed-and-breakfast properties. Travellers often widen the search to the surrounding area, where the choice is greater and prices are usually competitive.
For reference, Philadelphia, PA is about 277.2 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.
Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.
Opens Booking.com in a new tab. We are not affiliated with Booking.com and receive nothing from this link.
Practical uses
What ZIP code 26438 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 26438 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.
For anyone weighing a move, 26438 offers a compact profile of Spelter: 105 residents, 0.0% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.0%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.
One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 26438 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Spelter may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.
Nearby
ZIP codes near 26438
The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every West Virginia ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.
More in Harrison County
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Questions
Common questions about 26438
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Is 26438 urban, suburban or rural?
What is the commute like from 26438?
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Can ZIP code 26438 change?
Methodology
Where this data comes from
- Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
- Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 26438. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
- Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
- Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
- Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).