Best PlacesFlat Rock, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Flat Rock, 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.
Flat Rock ranks 10,370th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Flat Rock
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.
Flat Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Flat Rock ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Flat Rock ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute31.7 minutes each way, better than only 25% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 33% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Flat Rock
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Flat Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,631, 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 Flat Rock's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Flat Rock
Flat Rock's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Flat Rock.
Who works in Flat Rock, and how
Work in Flat Rock centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Flat Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Flat Rock.
What the weather is like in Flat Rock, month by month
Flat Rock sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, 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 | 51° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Flat Rock
Richmond International sits about 27 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Flat Rock
Schools across Flat Rock average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Flat Rock ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Midlothian MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Tomahawk Creek MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Powhatan MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Powhatan HighA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Flat Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Flat Rock 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 Flat Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Flat Rock
Is Flat Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Flat Rock ranks 10,370th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and good schools, and lowest on state finances and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Flat Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $345,827. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $76,631 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Flat Rock safe?
Yes, Flat Rock is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
Compare Flat Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Flat Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Flat Rock 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.
Flat Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Flat Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Flat Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Flat Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Flat Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Flat Rock 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.