Best Places23517, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23517, 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.
23517 ranks 5,524th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 23517
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.
23517's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23517 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 93% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 23517 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23517
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23517 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,845, 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 23517's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 23517
23517 runs younger 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 23517.
Who works in 23517, and how
Work in 23517 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 23517
23517 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of zip codes. The coast is about 7 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 23517 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23517, month by month
23517 sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 75° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of 23517
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23517
Schools across 23517 average a B+, better than 80% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ghent K-8A− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Academy For Discovery At LakewoodA · 63% proficient
- Blair MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Matthew Fontaine Maury HighA− · 61% proficient
- Granby HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23517 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23517 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 23517 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 23517
Is 23517 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23517 ranks 5,524th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and transit, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 23517 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $421,241. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $72,845 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 23517 safe?
23517 is safer than 4% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $889 per resident a year.
Compare 23517 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23517. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23517 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.
23517 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23517: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23517: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23517: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23517: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23517 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.