Best PlacesColonial Heights, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Colonial Heights, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Colonial Heights ranks 1,101st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Colonial Heights
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.
Colonial Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Colonial Heights ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 81% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 81% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 74% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of cities
Where Colonial Heights ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Colonial Heights
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colonial Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,857, 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 Colonial Heights' effective rate of 0.76%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Colonial Heights
Colonial Heights'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 Colonial Heights.
Who works in Colonial Heights, and how
Work in Colonial Heights centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Colonial Heights
Colonial Heights has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Colonial Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Colonial Heights, month by month
Colonial Heights sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Colonial Heights
Richmond International sits about 16 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Colonial Heights
Schools across Colonial Heights average a B+, better than 81% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Tussing ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Marguerite F. Christian ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Elizabeth Scott ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Colonial Heights MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Matoaca MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Elizabeth Davis MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Colonial Heights HighA · 78% proficient
- Matoaca HighA− · 65% proficient
- Thomas Dale HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colonial Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colonial Heights 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 Colonial Heights against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Colonial Heights suits
Common questions about living in Colonial Heights
Is Colonial Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colonial Heights ranks 1,101st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on noise and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colonial Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,295. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,857 median income, cost of living beats 64% of cities.
Is Colonial Heights safe?
Colonial Heights is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Colonial Heights?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 27. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of cities.
Is Colonial Heights good for families?
Schools beat 81% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $1,129 a month.
Compare Colonial Heights with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colonial Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colonial Heights 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.
Colonial Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colonial Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colonial Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colonial Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colonial Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colonial Heights 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.