Best PlacesClifdale, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clifdale, 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.
Clifdale ranks 16,985th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clifdale
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.
Clifdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clifdale ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Clifdale ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clifdale
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clifdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,560, 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 Clifdale'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clifdale
Clifdale runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clifdale.
Who works in Clifdale, and how
Work in Clifdale centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clifdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clifdale.
What the weather is like in Clifdale, month by month
Clifdale sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Clifdale
The nearest airport, Greenbrier Valley, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clifdale
Schools across Clifdale average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle Rock ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Mountain View ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Callaghan ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Academy MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Clifton MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- James River HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Alleghany HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clifdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clifdale 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 Clifdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clifdale
Is Clifdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clifdale ranks 16,985th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, heat safety, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clifdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,557. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $76,560 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Clifdale safe?
Clifdale is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $373 per resident a year.
Compare Clifdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clifdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clifdale 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.
Clifdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clifdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clifdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clifdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clifdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clifdale 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.