Best PlacesGoochland, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Goochland, 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.
Goochland ranks 6,292nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Goochland
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.
Goochland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Goochland ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Goochland ranks low
- Short commute36.8 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,126 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Goochland
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Goochland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $94,057; 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 Goochland's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Goochland
Goochland's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Goochland.
Who works in Goochland, and how
Work in Goochland centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Goochland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Goochland.
What the weather is like in Goochland, month by month
Goochland sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Goochland
Richmond International sits about 38 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Goochland
Schools across Goochland average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Goochland ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Randolph ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Pocahontas ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fluvanna MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Goochland MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Powhatan MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Goochland HighA · 71% proficient
- Cumberland HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Goochland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Goochland 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 Goochland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Goochland
Is Goochland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Goochland ranks 6,292nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and civic engagement, and lowest on long commutes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Goochland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,583. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $94,057 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Goochland safe?
Goochland is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
Compare Goochland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Goochland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Goochland 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.
Goochland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Goochland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Goochland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Goochland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Goochland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Goochland 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.