Best PlacesBuena Vista City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Buena Vista City, 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.
Buena Vista City ranks 1,526th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buena Vista City
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.
Buena Vista City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buena Vista City ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 89% of counties
- BikingBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
Where Buena Vista City ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of counties
- Household income$52,669 median, better than only 12% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Buena Vista City
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buena Vista City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,669, 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 Buena Vista City's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buena Vista City
Buena Vista City's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Buena Vista City.
Who works in Buena Vista City, and how
Work in Buena Vista City centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Buena Vista City
Buena Vista City has more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Buena Vista City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Buena Vista City growing, and who is moving in?
Buena Vista City has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pendleton County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Buena Vista City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Buena Vista City, month by month
Buena Vista City sees roughly 74 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 Buena Vista City
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buena Vista City
Schools across Buena Vista City average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Enderly Heights ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Parry Mccluer MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Parry Mccluer HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buena Vista City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buena Vista City 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 Buena Vista City against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Buena Vista City
Is Buena Vista City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buena Vista City ranks 1,526th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, short commutes, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buena Vista City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,525. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $52,669 median income, cost of living beats 11% of counties.
Is Buena Vista City safe?
Yes, Buena Vista City is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $334 per resident a year.
Compare Buena Vista City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buena Vista City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buena Vista City 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.
Buena Vista City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buena Vista City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buena Vista City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buena Vista City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buena Vista City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buena Vista City 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.