Best Places22504, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 22504, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
22504 ranks 23,390th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 22504
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
22504's strengths and weaknesses
Where 22504 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Household income$97,819 median, better than 78% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 22504 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Short commute37.9 minutes each way, better than only 6% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 22504
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 22504 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,819, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 22504's effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 22504
22504 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 22504.
Who works in 22504, and how
Work in 22504 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in 22504
The coast is about 2 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 22504, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 22504, month by month
22504 sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 22504
Richmond International sits about 38 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 22504
Schools across 22504 average a B−, better than 52% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Middlesex ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Tappahannock ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. Clare Walker MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- James H. Cary IntermediateC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Middlesex HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Essex HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 22504 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
22504 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 22504 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 22504
Is 22504 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 22504 ranks 23,390th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, what local pay buys, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 22504 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,250. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $97,819 median income, cost of living beats 91% of zip codes.
Is 22504 safe?
22504 is safer than 6% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $750 per resident a year.
Compare 22504 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 22504. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 22504 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
22504 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 22504: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 22504: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 22504: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 22504: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
22504 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.