Best PlacesFrederick County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Frederick County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Frederick County ranks 81st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Frederick County
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.
The best areas in Frederick County
The parts of Frederick County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
White Post
More adults hold degrees, it is quieter, and more residents vote.
Stephens City
Tree cover is thinner.
Cross Junction
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Stephenson & Clear Brook
Homes cost more and advertised internet is slower.
Winchester
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Middletown
Scores across Frederick County run from about the 30th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Frederick County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Frederick County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$104,313 median, better than 94% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Frederick County ranks low
- Short commute32.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 20% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Frederick County
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Frederick County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,313, 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 Frederick County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Frederick County
Frederick County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Frederick County.
Who works in Frederick County, and how
Work in Frederick County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Frederick County
Frederick County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Frederick County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Frederick County growing, and who is moving in?
Frederick County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Frederick County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Frederick County, month by month
Frederick County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Frederick County
Washington Dulles International sits about 42 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 Frederick County
Schools across Frederick County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Armel ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Boyce ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Middletown ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Daniel Morgan MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Johnson-williams MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Admiral Richard E. Byrd MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Sherando HighA · 77% proficient
- Millbrook HighA · 74% proficient
- Clarke County HighA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Frederick County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Frederick County 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 Frederick County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Frederick County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Frederick County
Is Frederick County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Frederick County ranks 81st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Frederick County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,334. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $104,313 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Frederick County safe?
Yes, Frederick County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Frederick County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Frederick County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are White Post, Stephens City, and Cross Junction. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Frederick County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Frederick County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Frederick County 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.
Frederick County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Frederick County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Frederick County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Frederick County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Frederick County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Frederick County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.