Best Places22948, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 22948, 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.
22948 ranks 7,931st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in 22948
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.
22948's strengths and weaknesses
Where 22948 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Household income$102,036 median, better than 81% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of zip codes
Where 22948 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 22948
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 22948 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $102,036; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 22948's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 22948
22948 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 22948.
Who works in 22948, and how
Work in 22948 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 22948
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 22948.
What the weather is like in 22948, month by month
22948 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 22948
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around 22948
Schools across 22948 average a B, better than 65% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Waverly Yowell ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- William H. Wetsel MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison County HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 22948 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
22948 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 22948 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 22948
Is 22948 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 22948 ranks 7,931st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 22948 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $442,268. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $102,036 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.
Is 22948 safe?
Yes, 22948 is safer than 87% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
Compare 22948 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 22948. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 22948 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.
22948 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 22948: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 22948: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 22948: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 22948: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
22948 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.