Best PlacesDulles, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dulles, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dulles ranks 262nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dulles
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.
Dulles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dulles ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$224,996 median, better than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
Where Dulles ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,632 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Short commute34.9 minutes each way, better than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dulles
A household needs to earn about $305,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dulles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $224,996, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Dulles' effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Dulles
Dulles runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Dulles.
Who works in Dulles, and how
Work in Dulles centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dulles
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dulles.
What the weather is like in Dulles, month by month
Dulles sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Dulles
Washington Dulles International sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dulles
Schools across Dulles average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rosa Lee Carter ElementaryA+ · 87% proficient
- Kenneth W.culbert ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Sycolin Creek ElementaryA+ · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stone Hill MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Blue Ridge MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- J. Lupton Simpson MiddleA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Loudoun Valley HighA · 79% proficient
- Loudoun County HighA · 73% proficient
- Park View HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dulles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dulles 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 Dulles against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dulles
Is Dulles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dulles ranks 262nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and low crime, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dulles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,176,620. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $224,996 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Dulles safe?
Yes, Dulles is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.
Compare Dulles with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dulles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dulles 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.
Dulles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dulles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dulles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dulles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dulles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dulles 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.