Best PlacesGate City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gate City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gate City ranks 31,359th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gate City
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.
Gate City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gate City ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of towns
Where Gate City ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Household income$53,606 median, better than only 17% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gate City
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gate City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,606, 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 Gate City's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gate City
Gate City 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 Gate City.
Who works in Gate City, and how
Work in Gate City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gate City
Gate City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Gate City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gate City, month by month
Gate City sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Gate City
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gate City
Schools across Gate City average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Weber City ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Hilton ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Duffield-pattonsville PrimaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gate City MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Rye Cove IntermediateB+ · 50% proficient
- Dungannon Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Gate City HighA · 73% proficient
- Twin Springs HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Rye Cove HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gate City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gate City 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 Gate City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gate City
Is Gate City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gate City ranks 31,359th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and affordable childcare, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gate City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,698. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,606 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Gate City safe?
Gate City is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
Compare Gate City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gate City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gate City 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.
Gate City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gate City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gate City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gate City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gate City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gate City 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.