Best Places24243, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 24243, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
24243 ranks 26,118th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 24243
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.
24243's strengths and weaknesses
Where 24243 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 93% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 24243 ranks low
- Household income$43,598 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 24243
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 24243 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,598, 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 24243's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 24243
24243 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 24243.
Who works in 24243, and how
Work in 24243 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 24243
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 24243.
What the weather is like in 24243, month by month
24243 sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 24243
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around 24243
Schools across 24243 average a B+, better than 78% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- St. Charles ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Dryden ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pennington MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Lee HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 24243 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
24243 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 24243 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 24243
Is 24243 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 24243 ranks 26,118th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and civic engagement, and lowest on low incomes 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 24243 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $126,717. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $43,598 median income, cost of living beats 10% of zip codes.
Is 24243 safe?
24243 is safer than 45% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare 24243 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 24243. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 24243 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.
24243 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 24243: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 24243: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 24243: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 24243: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
24243 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.