Best PlacesChesapeake City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chesapeake City, 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.
Chesapeake City ranks 198th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $105,231, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, state finances, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Chesapeake City
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.
Chesapeake City's strengths and weaknesses
Chesapeake City ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and good schools follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. State finances and disaster risk also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Chesapeake City ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 95% of counties
- Household income$105,231 median, better than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
Where Chesapeake City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$965 a month, better than only 19% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chesapeake City
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chesapeake City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,231, 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 Chesapeake City's effective rate of 0.78%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chesapeake City
Chesapeake City's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chesapeake City.
Who works in Chesapeake City, and how
Work in Chesapeake City centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Chesapeake City
Chesapeake City has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 17 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chesapeake City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chesapeake City growing, and who is moving in?
Chesapeake City has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Virginia Beach, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chesapeake City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chesapeake City, month by month
Chesapeake City sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Chesapeake City
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chesapeake City
Schools across Chesapeake City average an A−, better than 95% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Great Bridge IntermediateA+ · 82% proficient
- Cedar Road ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Southeastern ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hickory MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Great Bridge MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Hugo A. Owens MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Grassfield HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Hickory HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Western Branch HighA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chesapeake City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chesapeake City 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 Chesapeake City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chesapeake City suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chesapeake City
Is Chesapeake City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chesapeake City ranks 198th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and good schools, 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 Chesapeake City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,213. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $105,231 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Chesapeake City safe?
Chesapeake City is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chesapeake City?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 30. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
Is Chesapeake City good for families?
Schools beat 95% of counties, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $965 a month.
Is Chesapeake City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 71% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Chesapeake City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chesapeake City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chesapeake City 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.
Chesapeake City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chesapeake City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chesapeake City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chesapeake City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chesapeake City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chesapeake City 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.