Best PlacesHarman, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harman, 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.
Harman ranks 39,307th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harman
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.
Harman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harman ranks high
- Short commute13.4 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
Where Harman ranks low
- Household income$43,150 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harman
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $43,150, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Harman's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Harman
Harman runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harman.
Who works in Harman, and how
Work in Harman centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harman.
What the weather is like in Harman, month by month
Harman sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Harman
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harman
Schools across Harman average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Twin Valley Elementary/middleB+ · 53% proficient
- Riverview Elementary/middleB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Grundy HighA− · 63% proficient
- Twin Valley HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harman 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 Harman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harman
Is Harman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harman ranks 39,307th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on low incomes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,000. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $43,150 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Harman safe?
Harman is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
Compare Harman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harman 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.
Harman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harman 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.