Best PlacesDarlington Heights, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Darlington 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.
Darlington Heights ranks 36,356th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Cell coverage pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on clean air.
The best neighborhoods in Darlington 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.
Darlington Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Darlington Heights ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$590 a month, better than 80% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where Darlington Heights ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute39.7 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Darlington Heights
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Darlington Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,883, 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 Darlington Heights' effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Darlington Heights
Darlington Heights runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Darlington Heights.
Who works in Darlington Heights, and how
Work in Darlington Heights centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Darlington Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Darlington Heights.
What the weather is like in Darlington Heights, month by month
Darlington Heights sees roughly 60 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° | 39° | 27° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Darlington Heights
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Darlington Heights
Schools across Darlington Heights average a B−, better than 53% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Phenix ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Prince Edward ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Prince Edward MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Randolph-henry HighA− · 62% proficient
- Prince Edward County HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Darlington Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Darlington 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 Darlington Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Darlington Heights
Is Darlington Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Darlington Heights ranks 36,356th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, an educated workforce, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Darlington Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,791. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $70,883 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Darlington Heights safe?
Darlington Heights is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare Darlington Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Darlington Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Darlington 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.
Darlington Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Darlington Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Darlington Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Darlington Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Darlington Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Darlington 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.