Best PlacesHalifax, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Halifax, 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.
Halifax ranks 36,638th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on affordable childcare, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Halifax
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.
Halifax's strengths and weaknesses
Where Halifax ranks high
- Cheap childcare$537 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Short commute21.6 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of towns
Where Halifax ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Household income$53,937 median, better than only 18% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Halifax
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Halifax home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,937, 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 Halifax's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Halifax
Halifax runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Halifax.
Who works in Halifax, and how
Work in Halifax centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Halifax
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Halifax.
What the weather is like in Halifax, month by month
Halifax sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 27° |
| April | 75° | 59° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Halifax
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Halifax
Schools across Halifax average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clays Mill ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Scottsburg ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Meadville ElementaryC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Halifax County MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Halifax County HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Halifax school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Halifax 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 Halifax against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Halifax
Is Halifax a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Halifax ranks 36,638th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cheap car insurance, and short commutes, and lowest on crime and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Halifax expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,490. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,937 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Halifax safe?
Halifax is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $575 per resident a year.
Compare Halifax with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Halifax. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Halifax 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.
Halifax detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Halifax: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Halifax: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Halifax: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Halifax: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Halifax 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.