Best PlacesArlington County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Arlington County, 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.
Arlington County ranks 3rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $157,139, 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 Arlington County
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.
Arlington County's strengths and weaknesses
Arlington County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Population health is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. An educated workforce and high incomes 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 Arlington County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$157,139 median, better than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
Where Arlington County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,495 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
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Arlington County
A household needs to earn about $230,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arlington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $157,139, 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 Arlington County'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 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 Arlington County
Arlington County 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 Arlington County.
Who works in Arlington County, and how
Work in Arlington County centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 44%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Arlington County
Arlington County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties and more parkland per resident than 67% of counties. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Arlington County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Arlington County growing, and who is moving in?
Arlington County has grown about 6% 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 Arlington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Arlington County, month by month
Arlington County 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 Arlington County
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 Arlington County
Schools across Arlington County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nottingham ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Arlington TraditionalA+ · 83% proficient
- Jamestown ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Williamsburg MiddleA+ · 90% proficient
- Dorothy Hamm MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Swanson MiddleA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Yorktown HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Washington-liberty HighA · 78% proficient
- Arlington Community HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arlington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arlington County 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 Arlington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Arlington County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 35% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Arlington County
Is Arlington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arlington County ranks 3rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and high incomes, 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 Arlington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $875,470. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $157,139 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Arlington County safe?
Yes, Arlington County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $342 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Arlington County?
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 Arlington County good for families?
Schools beat 98% of counties, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $2,495 a month.
Is Arlington County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 65% of counties. About 35% of workers already work from home.
Compare Arlington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arlington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arlington County 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.
Arlington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arlington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arlington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arlington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arlington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arlington County 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.