Best Places22509, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 22509, 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.
22509 ranks 31,909th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in 22509
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.
22509's strengths and weaknesses
Where 22509 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 75% of zip codes
Where 22509 ranks low
- Short commute52.0 minutes each way, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 22509
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 22509 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,844, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 22509's effective rate of 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 22509
22509 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 22509.
Who works in 22509, and how
Work in 22509 centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 22509
The coast is about 29 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 22509, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 22509, month by month
22509 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 22509
Richmond International sits about 43 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 22509
Schools across 22509 average a C+, better than 45% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tappahannock ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- James H. Cary IntermediateC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Essex HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 22509 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
22509 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 22509 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 22509
Is 22509 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 22509 ranks 31,909th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, tree cover, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 22509 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,200. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $54,844 median income, cost of living beats 12% of zip codes.
Is 22509 safe?
22509 is safer than 14% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $523 per resident a year.
Compare 22509 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 22509. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 22509 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.
22509 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 22509: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 22509: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 22509: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 22509: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
22509 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.