Best PlacesFord, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ford, 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.
Ford ranks 31,781st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a strong job market.
The best neighborhoods in Ford
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.
Ford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ford ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
Where Ford ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute42.5 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ford
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $66,048; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Ford's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ford
Ford runs older 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 Ford.
Who works in Ford, and how
Work in Ford centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Ford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ford.
What the weather is like in Ford, month by month
Ford sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Ford
Richmond International sits about 35 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 Ford
Schools across Ford average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Midway ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Sunnyside ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Amelia County ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dinwiddie County MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Amelia County MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Amelia County HighA− · 60% proficient
- Dinwiddie County HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ford 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 Ford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ford
Is Ford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ford ranks 31,781st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and good schools, and lowest on internet speeds and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,081. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $66,048 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Ford safe?
Ford is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
Compare Ford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ford 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.
Ford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ford 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.