Best PlacesGrottoes, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grottoes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Grottoes ranks 4,522nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grottoes
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.
Grottoes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Grottoes ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of towns
Where Grottoes ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 34% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 39% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 40% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grottoes
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grottoes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,048, 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 Grottoes' effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Grottoes
Grottoes runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grottoes.
Who works in Grottoes, and how
Work in Grottoes centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Grottoes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grottoes.
What the weather is like in Grottoes, month by month
Grottoes sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Grottoes
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grottoes
Schools across Grottoes average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Edward G. Clymore ElementaryA · 62% proficient
- Peak View ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Cassell ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- S. Gordon Stewart MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Montevideo MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Kate Collins MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Spotswood HighA · 74% proficient
- Fort Defiance HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grottoes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grottoes 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 Grottoes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grottoes
Is Grottoes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grottoes ranks 4,522nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and fast internet, and lowest on state finances and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grottoes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,175. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $88,048 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Grottoes safe?
Yes, Grottoes is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $194 per resident a year.
Compare Grottoes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grottoes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grottoes 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.
Grottoes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grottoes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grottoes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grottoes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grottoes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grottoes 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.