Best PlacesAlexandria, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alexandria, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alexandria ranks 37th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $134,302, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, the weather, and internet speeds.
The best neighborhoods in Alexandria
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.
The best areas in Alexandria
The parts of Alexandria, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Potomac West & Potomac Yard-Potomac Greens
Streets are more walkable, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Braddock Road Metro, Old Town & Old Town North
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Taylor Run & Eisenhower East
Local pay stretches further and more residents vote.
North Ridge Rosemont
Fewer homes sit empty and commutes are shorter.
Southwest Quadrant
Health care is easier to reach, though it is noisier.
Woodlawn & Rose Hill
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Landmark-Van Dom
Homes cost less and prices have run up less.
Alexandria Wrest & Seminary Hill
Schools score lower.
Hybla Valley & Groveton
Health outcomes score lower.
Alexandria shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Alexandria's strengths and weaknesses
Alexandria ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes, an educated workforce, and a stable housing market carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, the weather, and internet speeds hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Alexandria ranks high
- Household income$134,302 median, better than 93% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of cities
Where Alexandria ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,892 a month, better than only 5% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Alexandria
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alexandria home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $134,302, 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's effective rate of 0.93%, 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
Alexandria'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.
Who works in Alexandria, and how
Work in Alexandria centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Alexandria
Alexandria has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alexandria and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alexandria, month by month
Alexandria sees roughly 63 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
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 5 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
Schools across Alexandria average a B, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Clermont ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Waynewood ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Island Creek ElementaryA+ · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Twain MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Gunston MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Sandburg MiddleA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Arlington Community HighA · 68% proficient
- Edison HighA− · 66% proficient
- Hayfield SecondaryA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alexandria school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alexandria 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 against the other 444 cities.
Who Alexandria suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alexandria
Is Alexandria a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alexandria ranks 37th of 445 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and a stable housing market, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alexandria expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $669,309. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $134,302 median income, cost of living beats 75% of cities.
Is Alexandria safe?
Yes, Alexandria is safer than 67% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $361 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alexandria?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 30. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Alexandria?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Potomac West & Potomac Yard-Potomac Greens, Braddock Road Metro, Old Town & Old Town North, and Taylor Run & Eisenhower East. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alexandria good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $1,892 a month.
Is Alexandria good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 11% of cities. About 27% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alexandria with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alexandria. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alexandria 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alexandria: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alexandria: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alexandria: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alexandria: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alexandria 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.