Best Places23398, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23398, 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.
23398 ranks 12,326th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 23398
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.
23398's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23398 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Household income$114,583 median, better than 88% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 23398 ranks low
- Short commute42.0 minutes each way, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23398
A household needs to earn about $131,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23398 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,583, 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 23398's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 23398
23398 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 23398.
Who works in 23398, and how
Work in 23398 centers on professional & technical and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 23398
The coast is about 2 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 23398, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23398, month by month
23398 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 67° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 23398
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23398
Schools across 23398 average a B, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Occohannock ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northampton MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Northampton HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23398 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23398 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 23398 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 23398
Is 23398 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23398 ranks 12,326th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 23398 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $516,700. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $114,583 median income, cost of living beats 95% of zip codes.
Is 23398 safe?
23398 is safer than 52% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
Compare 23398 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23398. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23398 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.
23398 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23398: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23398: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23398: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23398: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23398 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.