Best Places23426, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23426, 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.
23426 ranks 31,621st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 23426
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.
23426's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23426 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$711 a month, better than 72% of zip codes
Where 23426 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$27,857 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23426
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23426 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $27,857, 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 23426's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 23426
23426 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 23426.
Who works in 23426, and how
Work in 23426 centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 23426
The coast is about 3 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 23426, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23426, month by month
23426 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, 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 | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 62° | 53° |
Flying in and out of 23426
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23426
Schools across 23426 average a B, better than 64% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Kegotank ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Metompkin ElementaryC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Arcadia MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Arcadia HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23426 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23426 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 23426 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 23426
Is 23426 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23426 ranks 31,621st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, cheap car insurance, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 23426 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $98,400. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $27,857 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 23426 safe?
23426 is safer than 14% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $529 per resident a year.
Compare 23426 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23426. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23426 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.
23426 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23426: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23426: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23426: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23426: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23426 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.