Best Places23486, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23486, 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.
23486 ranks 26,367th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 23486
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.
23486's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23486 ranks high
- Short commute17.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 86% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 76% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 71% of zip codes
Where 23486 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Household income$51,944 median, better than only 13% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23486
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23486 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,944, 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 23486's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 23486
23486's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 23486.
Who works in 23486, and how
Work in 23486 centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 23486
The coast is about 13 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 23486, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23486, month by month
23486 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 23486
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23486
Schools across 23486 average a B, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Pungoteague ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Occohannock ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nandua MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Northampton MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Nandua HighA · 73% proficient
- Northampton HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23486 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23486 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 23486 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 23486
Is 23486 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23486 ranks 26,367th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, cheap car insurance, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 23486 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,800. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $51,944 median income, cost of living beats 16% of zip codes.
Is 23486 safe?
23486 is safer than 14% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare 23486 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23486. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23486 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.
23486 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23486: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23486: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23486: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23486: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23486 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.