Best PlacesGloucester County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gloucester 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.
Gloucester County ranks 652nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gloucester 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 Gloucester County
The parts of Gloucester 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.
Gloucester
More households have young kids, tree cover is thicker, and crime runs lower.
Hayes
Gloucester Point
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Scores across Gloucester County run from about the 36th to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Gloucester County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gloucester County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
Where Gloucester County ranks low
- Short commute34.7 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gloucester County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gloucester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,013, 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 Gloucester County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Gloucester County
Gloucester County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gloucester County.
Who works in Gloucester County, and how
Work in Gloucester County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gloucester County
Gloucester County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gloucester County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gloucester County growing, and who is moving in?
Gloucester County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Virginia Beach, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gloucester County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gloucester County, month by month
Gloucester County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Gloucester County
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gloucester County
Schools across Gloucester County average an A, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Botetourt ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Bethel ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Abingdon ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Peasley MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Page MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Gloucester HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gloucester County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gloucester 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 Gloucester County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gloucester County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Gloucester County
Is Gloucester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gloucester County ranks 652nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gloucester County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $332,218. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $85,013 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Gloucester County safe?
Yes, Gloucester County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gloucester County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 29. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gloucester County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Gloucester, Hayes, and Gloucester Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Gloucester County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gloucester County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gloucester 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.
Gloucester County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gloucester County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gloucester County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gloucester County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gloucester County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gloucester 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.