Best PlacesBristol, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bristol, 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.
Bristol ranks 1,590th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bristol
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.
Bristol's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bristol ranks high
- Cheap childcare$551 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 90% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of cities
Where Bristol ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Household income$55,978 median, better than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 5% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bristol
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bristol home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,978, 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 Bristol's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bristol
Bristol runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bristol.
Who works in Bristol, and how
Work in Bristol centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bristol
Bristol has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bristol and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bristol, month by month
Bristol sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Bristol
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bristol
Schools across Bristol average an A, better than 90% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Weber City ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Watauga ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Greendale ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wallace MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- E.b. Stanley MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Gate City MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Abingdon HighA · 75% proficient
- Gate City HighA · 73% proficient
- John S. Battle HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bristol school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bristol 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 Bristol against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bristol suits
Common questions about living in Bristol
Is Bristol a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bristol ranks 1,590th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on empty homes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bristol expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,343. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $55,978 median income, cost of living beats 12% of cities.
Is Bristol safe?
Bristol is safer than 33% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $411 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bristol?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 29. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of cities.
Is Bristol good for families?
Schools beat 90% of cities, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $551 a month.
Compare Bristol with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bristol. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bristol 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.
Bristol detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bristol: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bristol: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bristol: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bristol: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bristol 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.