Best PlacesBuffalo Forge, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buffalo Forge, 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.
Buffalo Forge ranks 30,435th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buffalo Forge
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.
Buffalo Forge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buffalo Forge ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where Buffalo Forge ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Household income$54,521 median, better than only 18% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffalo Forge
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buffalo Forge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,521, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Buffalo Forge's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Buffalo Forge
Buffalo Forge runs older 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 Buffalo Forge.
Who works in Buffalo Forge, and how
Work in Buffalo Forge centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Buffalo Forge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buffalo Forge.
What the weather is like in Buffalo Forge, month by month
Buffalo Forge sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Buffalo Forge
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 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffalo Forge
Schools across Buffalo Forge average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Natural Bridge ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maury River MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockbridge County HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buffalo Forge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buffalo Forge 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 Buffalo Forge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buffalo Forge
Is Buffalo Forge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffalo Forge ranks 30,435th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, cheap car insurance, and health care access, and lowest on noise and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buffalo Forge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,440. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $54,521 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Buffalo Forge safe?
Buffalo Forge is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
Compare Buffalo Forge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buffalo Forge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buffalo Forge 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.
Buffalo Forge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buffalo Forge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buffalo Forge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buffalo Forge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buffalo Forge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buffalo Forge 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.