Best PlacesBedford County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bedford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bedford County ranks 450th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bedford 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 Bedford County
The parts of Bedford 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.
Forest & Lynchburg
More households have young kids, more adults hold degrees, and fewer homes sit empty.
Huddleston
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Moneta, Goodview & Vinton
Schools score lower and prices have run up more.
Thaxton
Tree cover is thicker, though local pay stretches less far.
Bedford
Incomes run lower and crime runs higher.
Bedford County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 13% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Bedford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bedford County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
Where Bedford County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bedford County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bedford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,924, 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 Bedford County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Bedford County
Bedford County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bedford County.
Who works in Bedford County, and how
Work in Bedford County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bedford County
Bedford 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 Bedford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bedford County growing, and who is moving in?
Bedford County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lynchburg, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bedford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bedford County, month by month
Bedford County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Bedford County
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bedford County
Schools across Bedford County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Forest ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Boonsboro ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Academy MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- William Byrd MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- James River HighA+ · 86% proficient
- William Byrd HighA · 78% proficient
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bedford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bedford 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 Bedford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bedford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bedford County
Is Bedford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bedford County ranks 450th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and good schools, 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 Bedford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,300. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,924 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Bedford County safe?
Yes, Bedford County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bedford County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 26. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bedford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Forest & Lynchburg, Huddleston, and Moneta, Goodview & Vinton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bedford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bedford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bedford 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.
Bedford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bedford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bedford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bedford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bedford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bedford 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.