Best PlacesChesapeake, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chesapeake, 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.
Chesapeake ranks 99th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on good schools and cheap car insurance. The weaker spots are walkability, state finances, and cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Chesapeake
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.
The best areas in Chesapeake
The parts of Chesapeake, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Great Bridge
Local pay stretches further, it is quieter, and crime runs lower.
Deep Creek South & Deep Creek West
Incomes run higher and more households have young kids.
Great Bridge East, Butts Station & Pleasant Grove West
Prices have run up less and more residents vote.
Western Branch North & Western Branch South
More adults hold degrees.
Greenbrier East
Biking is better, though tree cover is thinner.
Deep Creek North
Scores close to Greenbrier East, except that heat risk is lower here.
Indian River
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
South Norfolk & Greenbrier West
Scores close to Indian River, except that commutes are longer here.
Northern Chesapeake
More homes sit empty and health care is harder to reach.
Chesapeake shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Chesapeake's strengths and weaknesses
Chesapeake ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools, cheap car insurance, and civic engagement carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Walkability, state finances, and cell coverage hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Chesapeake ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of cities
Where Chesapeake ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Chesapeake
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chesapeake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,151, 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'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
Chesapeake'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.
Who works in Chesapeake, and how
Work in Chesapeake 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
Chesapeake has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 17 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chesapeake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chesapeake, month by month
Chesapeake 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
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
Schools across Chesapeake average an A−, better than 96% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Great Bridge IntermediateA+ · 82% proficient
- Cedar Road ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Southeastern ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- Princess Anne MiddleA+ · 84% proficient
- Hickory MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Kempsville MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Floyd Kellam HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Grassfield HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Hickory HighA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chesapeake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chesapeake 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 against the other 444 cities.
Who Chesapeake suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chesapeake
Is Chesapeake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chesapeake ranks 99th of 445 cities. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and civic engagement, and lowest on walkability 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 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,126. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $105,151 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Chesapeake safe?
Chesapeake is safer than 49% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chesapeake?
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 cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chesapeake?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Great Bridge, Deep Creek South & Deep Creek West, and Great Bridge East, Butts Station & Pleasant Grove West. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Chesapeake good for families?
Schools beat 96% of cities, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $965 a month.
Is Chesapeake good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 23% of cities. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Chesapeake with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chesapeake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chesapeake 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chesapeake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chesapeake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chesapeake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chesapeake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chesapeake 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.