Best PlacesBotetourt County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Botetourt 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.
Botetourt County ranks 232nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Botetourt 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 Botetourt County
The parts of Botetourt 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.
Daleville, Cloverdale & Troutville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Blue Ridge
More households have young kids.
Buchanan
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Botetourt County run from about the 26th to the 92nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Botetourt County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Botetourt County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Botetourt County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Botetourt County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Botetourt County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,376, 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 Botetourt County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Botetourt County
Botetourt County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Botetourt County.
Who works in Botetourt County, and how
Work in Botetourt 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Botetourt County
Botetourt 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 Botetourt County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Botetourt County growing, and who is moving in?
Botetourt County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Roanoke, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Botetourt County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Botetourt County, month by month
Botetourt County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Botetourt County
The nearest airport, Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional (Woodrum Field), is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Botetourt County
Schools across Botetourt County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Colonial ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Cloverdale ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Big Island ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Academy MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Read Mountain MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- James River HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Lord Botetourt HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Rockbridge County HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Botetourt County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Botetourt 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 Botetourt County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Botetourt County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Botetourt County
Is Botetourt County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Botetourt County ranks 232nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Botetourt County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,601. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $82,376 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Botetourt County safe?
Yes, Botetourt County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Botetourt County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 28. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Botetourt County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Daleville, Cloverdale & Troutville, Blue Ridge, and Buchanan. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Botetourt County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Botetourt County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Botetourt 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.
Botetourt County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Botetourt County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Botetourt County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Botetourt County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Botetourt County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Botetourt 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.