Best PlacesCalvin, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Calvin, 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.
Calvin ranks 42,941st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Calvin
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.
Calvin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calvin ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
Where Calvin ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$32,277 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Calvin
A household needs to earn about $16,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calvin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $32,277, 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 Calvin's effective rate of 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Calvin
Calvin 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 Calvin.
Who works in Calvin, and how
Work in Calvin centers on health care & social and utilities. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Calvin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Calvin.
What the weather is like in Calvin, month by month
Calvin sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Calvin
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calvin
Schools across Calvin average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- St. Charles ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pennington MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Lee HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calvin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calvin 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 Calvin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Calvin
Is Calvin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calvin ranks 42,941st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and affordable childcare, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Calvin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $61,900. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $32,277 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Calvin safe?
Calvin is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Calvin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calvin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calvin 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.
Calvin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calvin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calvin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calvin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calvin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calvin 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.