Best PlacesHanover County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hanover 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.
Hanover County ranks 37th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $115,240, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, state finances, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Hanover 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 Hanover County
The parts of Hanover 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.
Ashland
More households have young kids, more adults hold degrees, and prices have run up less.
Mechanicsville
Crime runs lower, though incomes run lower.
Glen Allen & Rockville
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Montpelier & Beaverdam
Commutes are longer and more homes sit empty.
Scores across Hanover County run from about the 35th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hanover County's strengths and weaknesses
Hanover County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and civic engagement follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, state finances, and childcare costs hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Hanover County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Hanover County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,015 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hanover County
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hanover County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,240, 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 Hanover County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hanover County
Hanover County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hanover County.
Who works in Hanover County, and how
Work in Hanover County 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 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hanover County
Hanover 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 51 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hanover County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hanover County growing, and who is moving in?
Hanover County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Richmond, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hanover County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hanover County, month by month
Hanover County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Hanover County
Richmond International sits about 14 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 Hanover County
Schools across Hanover County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rural Point ElementaryA+ · 87% proficient
- Pole Green ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Kersey Creek ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chickahominy MiddleA+ · 85% proficient
- Oak Knoll MiddleA+ · 84% proficient
- Bell Creek MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Atlee HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Hanover HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Deep Run HighA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hanover County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hanover 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 Hanover County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hanover County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hanover County
Is Hanover County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hanover County ranks 37th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hanover County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $407,481. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $115,240 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Hanover County safe?
Yes, Hanover County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hanover County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 28. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hanover County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ashland, Mechanicsville, and Glen Allen & Rockville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hanover County good for families?
Schools beat 99% of counties, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $1,015 a month.
Is Hanover County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hanover County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hanover County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hanover 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.
Hanover County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hanover County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hanover County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hanover County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hanover County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hanover 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.