Best PlacesForest, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest, 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.
Forest ranks 2,337th 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 Forest
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.
Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
Where Forest ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 39% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 43% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Forest
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $92,869; 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 Forest's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 Forest
Forest runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forest.
Who works in Forest, and how
Work in Forest centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Forest
Forest has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more late-night spots per resident than 69% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Forest and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Forest, month by month
Forest sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Forest
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forest
Schools across Forest average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forest ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Boonsboro ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Brookville MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Sandusky MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Brookville HighA · 73% proficient
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
- Heritage HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest 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 Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Forest suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Forest
Is Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest ranks 2,337th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on state finances and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $378,502. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $92,869 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Forest safe?
Yes, Forest is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Forest?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 26. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of towns.
Is Forest good for families?
Schools beat 96% of towns, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $676 a month.
Compare Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest 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.
Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest 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.