Best PlacesCulpeper, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Culpeper, 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.
Culpeper ranks 899th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Culpeper
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.
Culpeper's strengths and weaknesses
Where Culpeper ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 81% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of cities
Where Culpeper ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Short commute33.7 minutes each way, better than only 9% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Culpeper
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Culpeper home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $99,664; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Culpeper's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Culpeper
Culpeper runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Culpeper.
Who works in Culpeper, and how
Work in Culpeper centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Culpeper
Culpeper has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Culpeper and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Culpeper, month by month
Culpeper sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 24° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 92° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Culpeper
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Culpeper
Schools across Culpeper average an A−, better than 81% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Emerald Hill ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- A.g. Richardson ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Orange ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Locust Grove MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Culpeper MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Floyd T. Binns MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern View HighA · 70% proficient
- Orange County HighA · 67% proficient
- Culpeper County HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Culpeper school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Culpeper 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 Culpeper against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Culpeper suits
Common questions about living in Culpeper
Is Culpeper a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Culpeper ranks 899th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Culpeper expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $408,539. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $99,664 median income, cost of living beats 42% of cities.
Is Culpeper safe?
Yes, Culpeper is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Culpeper?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 24. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Culpeper good for families?
Schools beat 81% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $861 a month.
Compare Culpeper with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Culpeper. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Culpeper 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.
Culpeper detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Culpeper: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Culpeper: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Culpeper: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Culpeper: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Culpeper 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.