Best PlacesBriarfield, Newport News, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Briarfield, Newport News, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Briarfield, Newport News ranks 5,529th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. A weak job market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Briarfield, Newport News
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.
Briarfield, Newport News' strengths and weaknesses
Where Briarfield, Newport News ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$872 a month, better than 79% of neighborhoods
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 74% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 72% of neighborhoods
Where Briarfield, Newport News ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Household income$45,716 median, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Briarfield, Newport News
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Briarfield, Newport News home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $45,716; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Briarfield, Newport News' effective rate of 0.99%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Briarfield, Newport News
Briarfield, Newport News 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 Briarfield, Newport News.
Who works in Briarfield, Newport News, and how
Work in Briarfield, Newport News centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Briarfield, Newport News
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Briarfield, Newport News, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Briarfield, Newport News, month by month
Briarfield, Newport News sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Briarfield, Newport News
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Briarfield, Newport News
Schools across Briarfield, Newport News average a C, better than 46% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Carver ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crittenden MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Huntington MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Heritage HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Achievable Dream Middle/highB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Briarfield, Newport News school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Briarfield, Newport News 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 Briarfield, Newport News against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Briarfield, Newport News
Is Briarfield, Newport News a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Briarfield, Newport News ranks 5,529th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Briarfield, Newport News expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,919. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $45,716 median income, cost of living beats 19% of neighborhoods.
Is Briarfield, Newport News safe?
Briarfield, Newport News is safer than 6% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,023 per resident a year.
Compare Briarfield, Newport News with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Briarfield, Newport News. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Briarfield, Newport News 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.
Briarfield, Newport News detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Briarfield, Newport News: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Briarfield, Newport News: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Briarfield, Newport News: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Briarfield, Newport News: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Briarfield, Newport News 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.