Best PlacesFerrum, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ferrum, 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.
Ferrum ranks 26,123rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ferrum
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.
Ferrum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ferrum ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- BikingBetter than 73% of towns
Where Ferrum ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Short commute32.3 minutes each way, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ferrum
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ferrum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,792, 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 Ferrum's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Ferrum
Ferrum runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ferrum.
Who works in Ferrum, and how
Work in Ferrum centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Ferrum
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ferrum.
What the weather is like in Ferrum, month by month
Ferrum sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Ferrum
The nearest airport, Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional (Woodrum Field), is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ferrum
Schools across Ferrum average an A−, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Callaway ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Sontag ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Henry ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Franklin MiddleA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin County HighA · 76% proficient
- Patrick County HighA · 68% proficient
- Floyd County HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ferrum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ferrum 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 Ferrum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ferrum
Is Ferrum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ferrum ranks 26,123rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and good schools, and lowest on state finances and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ferrum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,926. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $66,792 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Ferrum safe?
Ferrum is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
Compare Ferrum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ferrum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ferrum 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.
Ferrum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ferrum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ferrum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ferrum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ferrum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ferrum 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.