Best PlacesGoode, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Goode, 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.
Goode ranks 3,173rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Goode
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.
Goode's strengths and weaknesses
Where Goode ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
Where Goode ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 31% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Goode
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Goode home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $95,764; 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 Goode's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Goode
Goode runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Goode.
Who works in Goode, and how
Work in Goode centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Goode
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Goode.
What the weather is like in Goode, month by month
Goode sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Goode
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Goode
Schools across Goode average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forest ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- New London Academy ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Big Island ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
- Liberty HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Goode school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Goode 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 Goode against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Goode
Is Goode a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Goode ranks 3,173rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on state finances and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Goode expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $399,700. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $95,764 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Goode safe?
Yes, Goode is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Goode with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Goode. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Goode 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.
Goode detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Goode: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Goode: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Goode: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Goode: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Goode 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.