Best PlacesAlexandria City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alexandria City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alexandria City ranks 36th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $136,434, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Alexandria City
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.
Alexandria City's strengths and weaknesses
Alexandria City ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and transit follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and the weather also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Alexandria City ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
Where Alexandria City ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,092 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Short commute28.4 minutes each way, better than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alexandria City
A household needs to earn about $195,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alexandria City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,434, 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 Alexandria City's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Alexandria City
Alexandria City'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 Alexandria City.
Who works in Alexandria City, and how
Work in Alexandria City centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Alexandria City
Alexandria City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 94% of counties. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alexandria City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alexandria City growing, and who is moving in?
Alexandria City has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Washington, DC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alexandria City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alexandria City, month by month
Alexandria City sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Alexandria City
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Alexandria City
Schools across Alexandria City average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lyles-crouch ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Claremont ImmersionA− · 61% proficient
- George Mason ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gunston MiddleA · 65% proficient
- George Washington MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Francis C. Hammond MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Arlington Community HighA · 68% proficient
- Alexandria City High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alexandria City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alexandria City 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 Alexandria City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Alexandria City suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alexandria City
Is Alexandria City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alexandria City ranks 36th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, walkability, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alexandria City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $734,342. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $136,434 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Alexandria City safe?
Alexandria City is safer than 39% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alexandria City?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 30. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of counties.
Is Alexandria City good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $2,092 a month.
Is Alexandria City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 62% of counties. About 29% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alexandria City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alexandria City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alexandria City 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.
Alexandria City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alexandria City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alexandria City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alexandria City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alexandria City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alexandria City 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.