Best PlacesFree Union, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Free Union, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Free Union ranks 1,733rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Free Union
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.
Free Union's strengths and weaknesses
Where Free Union ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
Where Free Union ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,157 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 25% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Free Union
A household needs to earn about $175,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Free Union home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,371, 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 Free Union's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Free Union
Free Union runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Free Union.
Who works in Free Union, and how
Work in Free Union centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Free Union
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Free Union.
What the weather is like in Free Union, month by month
Free Union sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 50, 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 | 50° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Free Union
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Free Union
Schools across Free Union average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meriwether Lewis ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Broadus Wood ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Nathanael Greene ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joseph T. Henley MiddleA+ · 84% proficient
- Journey MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
- William Monroe MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Western Albemarle HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Albemarle HighA · 74% proficient
- William Monroe HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Free Union school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Free Union 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 Free Union against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Free Union
Is Free Union a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Free Union ranks 1,733rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Free Union expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $682,800. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $124,371 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Free Union safe?
Free Union is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $382 per resident a year.
Compare Free Union with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Free Union. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Free Union 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.
Free Union detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Free Union: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Free Union: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Free Union: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Free Union: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Free Union 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.