Best PlacesCharlemont, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Charlemont, 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.
Charlemont ranks 7,927th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Charlemont
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.
Charlemont's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charlemont ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
Where Charlemont ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Charlemont
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charlemont home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,997, 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 Charlemont's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 Charlemont
Charlemont 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 Charlemont.
Who works in Charlemont, and how
Work in Charlemont centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Charlemont
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Charlemont.
What the weather is like in Charlemont, month by month
Charlemont sees roughly 70 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 Charlemont
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Charlemont
Schools across Charlemont average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forest ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Big Island ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Otter River ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
- Liberty HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charlemont school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charlemont 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 Charlemont against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Charlemont
Is Charlemont a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charlemont ranks 7,927th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low crime, and low property taxes, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Charlemont expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $276,200. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $73,997 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Charlemont safe?
Yes, Charlemont is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare Charlemont with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charlemont. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charlemont 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.
Charlemont detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charlemont: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charlemont: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charlemont: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charlemont: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charlemont 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.