Best Places23061, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23061, 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.
23061 ranks 9,289th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 23061
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.
23061's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23061 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 90% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 23061 ranks low
- Short commute34.9 minutes each way, better than only 11% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23061
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23061 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,514, 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 23061's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 23061
23061 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 23061.
Who works in 23061, and how
Work in 23061 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 23061
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 23061, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23061, month by month
23061 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 23061
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23061
Schools across 23061 average an A, better than 90% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Waller Mill ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Botetourt ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Bethel ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Queens Lake MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Peasley MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Page MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Bruton HighA · 72% proficient
- Gloucester HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23061 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23061 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 23061 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 23061 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 23061
Is 23061 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23061 ranks 9,289th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and cheap car insurance, 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 23061 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,061. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $88,514 median income, cost of living beats 76% of zip codes.
Is 23061 safe?
Yes, 23061 is safer than 77% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 23061?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 29. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of zip codes.
Is 23061 good for families?
Schools beat 90% of zip codes, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $942 a month.
Compare 23061 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23061. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23061 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.
23061 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23061: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23061: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23061: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23061: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23061 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.