Best Places22554, VA Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 22554, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

22554 ranks 1,618th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.

#1,618
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 22554

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 22554 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

22554's strengths and weaknesses

#1618Best US zip overall
Top 5%High incomes
Top 10%What local pay buys
Top 10%Population health
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 22554 with other zip codes.

Where 22554 ranks high

  • Household income$154,657 median, better than 96% of zip codes
  • Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of zip codes
  • Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
  • Low vacancyBetter than 89% of zip codes

Where 22554 ranks low

  • Short commute37.0 minutes each way, better than only 7% of zip codes
  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 20% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$1,027 a month, better than only 31% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 22554

A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 22554 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $154,657, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$134,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$3,129
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $523,060 home
Median rent
$2,361
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$2,667
Property tax$288
Homeowners insurance$174

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 22554's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 22554

22554 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.

Median age
35
younger than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
9%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
3.2
above the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1828%
18 to 3423%
35 to 4920%
50 to 6420%
65 and older9%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 22554.


Who works in 22554, and how

Work in 22554 centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
24%
above the national average
Unemployment
3.1%
below the national average
Job growth
+5.3%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Public administration20%
Health care & social13%
Professional & technical11%
Retail trade8%
Education7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 74%
  • Work from home 24%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 3%

Life in 22554

The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 22554, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
168
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 26.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 39% of zip codes
Coffee shops
18
about 2.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 52% of zip codes
Parkland
101 acres
about 1.6 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 58% of zip codes
To the coast
12 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

What the weather is like in 22554, month by month

22554 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January48°37°29°
April71°58°47°
July91°79°69°
October71°59°49°

Flying in and out of 22554

Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 34 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
DCA
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl, about 34 miles
Airport size
Large hub
28th-busiest in the US, 128 nonstop destinations
Average drive
49 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 22554

Schools across 22554 average an A−, better than 82% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 22554 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


22554 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 22554 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 22554 suits

Families

Schools beat 82% of zip codes and crime safety beats 84%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Health care access beats 59%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 22554

Is 22554 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 22554 ranks 1,618th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, what local pay buys, and population health, and lowest on long commutes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 22554 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $523,060. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $154,657 median income, cost of living beats 95% of zip codes.

Is 22554 safe?

Yes, 22554 is safer than 84% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 22554?

July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 29. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of zip codes.

Is 22554 good for families?

Schools beat 82% of zip codes, crime safety beats 84%, and childcare runs $1,027 a month.


Compare 22554 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 22554. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 22554 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.

22554 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 22554: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 22554: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 22554: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 22554: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

22554 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.