Best PlacesCatlett, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Catlett, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Catlett ranks 7,050th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Catlett
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.
Catlett's strengths and weaknesses
Where Catlett ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$125,080 median, better than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
Where Catlett ranks low
- Short commute39.0 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 29% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Catlett
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Catlett home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $125,080, 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 Catlett's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Catlett
Catlett runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Catlett.
Who works in Catlett, and how
Work in Catlett centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Catlett
The coast is about 38 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Catlett, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Catlett, month by month
Catlett sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Catlett
Washington Dulles International sits about 23 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Catlett
Schools across Catlett average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenville ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- The Nokesville SchoolA · 68% proficient
- H.m. Pearson ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Auburn MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Cedar Lee MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Kettle Run HighA · 71% proficient
- Brentsville District HighA · 69% proficient
- Liberty HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Catlett school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Catlett 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 Catlett against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Catlett
Is Catlett a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Catlett ranks 7,050th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Catlett expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $554,713. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $125,080 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Catlett safe?
Yes, Catlett is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Catlett with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Catlett. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Catlett 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.
Catlett detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Catlett: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Catlett: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Catlett: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Catlett: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Catlett 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.