Best PlacesCarson, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Carson ranks 14,802nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carson
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.
Carson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carson ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Carson ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Carson
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,119, 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 Carson's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carson
Carson 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 Carson.
Who works in Carson, and how
Work in Carson centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Carson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Carson.
What the weather is like in Carson, month by month
Carson sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Carson
Richmond International sits about 34 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Carson
Schools across Carson average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Sunnyside ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Dinwiddie ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- J.e.j. Moore MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Dinwiddie County MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Sussex Central MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Prince George HighA · 75% proficient
- Dinwiddie County HighA− · 59% proficient
- Sussex Central HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carson 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 Carson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Carson
Is Carson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carson ranks 14,802nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,078. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $89,119 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Carson safe?
Yes, Carson is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
Compare Carson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carson 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.
Carson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carson 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.