Best PlacesCripple Creek, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cripple Creek, 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.
Cripple Creek ranks 12,841st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cripple Creek
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.
Cripple Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cripple Creek ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Cripple Creek ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cripple Creek
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cripple Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,351, 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 Cripple Creek's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cripple Creek.
Who works in Cripple Creek, and how
Work in Cripple Creek centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cripple Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cripple Creek.
What the weather is like in Cripple Creek, month by month
Cripple Creek sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Cripple Creek
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cripple Creek
Schools across Cripple Creek average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fries ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Speedwell ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rural Retreat MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Grayson County HighA · 73% proficient
- Rural Retreat HighA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cripple Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cripple Creek 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 Cripple Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cripple Creek
Is Cripple Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cripple Creek ranks 12,841st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cripple Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,315. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $72,351 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Cripple Creek safe?
Yes, Cripple Creek is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
Compare Cripple Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cripple Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cripple Creek 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.
Cripple Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cripple Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cripple Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cripple Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cripple Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cripple Creek 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.