Shepherdstown is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Shepherdstown to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Shepherdstown spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.19 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.
Being a small town, Shepherdstown does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
If knowledge is power, Shepherdstown is a pretty powerful place. 54.29% of the adults in Shepherdstown have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Shepherdstown in 2022 was $21,508, which is lower middle income relative to West Virginia, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $86,032 for a family of four. However, Shepherdstown contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Shepherdstown is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Shepherdstown home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Shepherdstown residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Shepherdstown include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Shepherdstown is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and French.
