Best PlacesElkwood, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elkwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elkwood ranks 26,738th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elkwood
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.
Elkwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elkwood ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
Where Elkwood ranks low
- Short commute50.3 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elkwood
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elkwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,825, 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 Elkwood's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Elkwood
Elkwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elkwood.
Who works in Elkwood, and how
Work in Elkwood centers on professional & technical 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 6%
Life in Elkwood
The coast is about 48 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Elkwood, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elkwood, month by month
Elkwood sees roughly 59 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 Elkwood
Washington Dulles International sits about 38 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 Elkwood
Schools across Elkwood average a B+, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pearl Sample ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Margaret M. Pierce ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Culpeper MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Floyd T. Binns MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Cedar Lee MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern View HighA · 70% proficient
- Culpeper County HighA− · 66% proficient
- Liberty HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elkwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elkwood 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 Elkwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elkwood
Is Elkwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elkwood ranks 26,738th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elkwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $435,982. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $92,825 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Elkwood safe?
Yes, Elkwood is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Elkwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elkwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elkwood 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.
Elkwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elkwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elkwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elkwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elkwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elkwood 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.