Best Places23603, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 23603, 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.
23603 ranks 12,750th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 23603
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.
23603's strengths and weaknesses
Where 23603 ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 23603 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 23603
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 23603 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,505, 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 23603's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 23603
23603 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 23603.
Who works in 23603, and how
Work in 23603 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 23603
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 23603, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 23603, month by month
23603 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of 23603
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around 23603
Schools across 23603 average a B−, better than 65% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Magruder ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Yorktown ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Oliver C. Greenwood ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yorktown MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Queens Lake MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Ella J. Fitzgerald MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- York HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Bruton HighA · 72% proficient
- Woodside HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 23603 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
23603 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 23603 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 23603
Is 23603 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 23603 ranks 12,750th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on population health, transit, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise 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 23603 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $289,529. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $86,505 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.
Is 23603 safe?
23603 is safer than 22% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $458 per resident a year.
Compare 23603 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 23603. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 23603 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.
23603 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 23603: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 23603: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 23603: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 23603: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
23603 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.