Best PlacesCoolwell, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Coolwell, 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.
Coolwell ranks 27,945th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Noise pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Coolwell
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.
Coolwell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Coolwell ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$558 a month, better than 86% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 74% of towns
Where Coolwell ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Coolwell
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Coolwell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,166, 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 Coolwell's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Coolwell
Coolwell'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 Coolwell.
Who works in Coolwell, and how
Work in Coolwell centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Coolwell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Coolwell.
What the weather is like in Coolwell, month by month
Coolwell sees roughly 67 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 Coolwell
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Coolwell
Schools across Coolwell average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elon ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Amelon ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Central ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Monelison MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst County HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Coolwell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Coolwell 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 Coolwell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Coolwell
Is Coolwell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Coolwell ranks 27,945th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, 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 Coolwell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,952. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $58,166 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Coolwell safe?
Yes, Coolwell is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Coolwell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Coolwell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Coolwell 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.
Coolwell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Coolwell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Coolwell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Coolwell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Coolwell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Coolwell 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.