Best PlacesAugusta County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Augusta County, 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.
Augusta County ranks 307th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Augusta 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.
The best areas in Augusta County
The parts of Augusta County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Weyers Cave
More households have young kids, crime runs lower, and incomes run higher.
Churchville
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Stuarts Draft
More residents vote and fewer homes sit empty.
Verona
Local pay stretches further and prices have run up less.
Waynesboro, Fishersville & Crimora
Scores close to Verona, except that more adults hold degrees here.
Staunton
Advertised internet is faster and biking is better.
Greenville & Craigsville
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Augusta County run from about the 14th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Augusta County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Augusta County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 92% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of counties
Where Augusta County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 26% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 30% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Augusta County
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Augusta County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,547, 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 Augusta County's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Augusta County
Augusta County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Augusta County.
Who works in Augusta County, and how
Work in Augusta County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Augusta County
Augusta County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Augusta County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Augusta County growing, and who is moving in?
Augusta County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Staunton, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Augusta County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Augusta County, month by month
Augusta County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Augusta County
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Augusta County
Schools across Augusta County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Riverheads ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Highland ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Edward G. Clymore ElementaryA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joseph T. Henley MiddleA+ · 84% proficient
- Stuarts Draft MiddleA · 64% proficient
- S. Gordon Stewart MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Western Albemarle HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Turner Ashby HighA · 77% proficient
- Wilson Memorial HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Augusta County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Augusta 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 Augusta County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Augusta County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Augusta County
Is Augusta County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Augusta County ranks 307th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and a strong job market, and lowest on walkability and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Augusta County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,129. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $83,547 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Augusta County safe?
Yes, Augusta County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Augusta County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 24. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Augusta County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Weyers Cave, Churchville, and Stuarts Draft. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Augusta County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Augusta County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Augusta 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.
Augusta County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Augusta County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Augusta County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Augusta County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Augusta County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Augusta 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.