Best PlacesHarrisonburg City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harrisonburg City, 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.
Harrisonburg City ranks 422nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Harrisonburg City
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.
Harrisonburg City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harrisonburg City ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
Where Harrisonburg City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harrisonburg City
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harrisonburg City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,065, 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 Harrisonburg City's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Harrisonburg City
Harrisonburg City runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harrisonburg City.
Who works in Harrisonburg City, and how
Work in Harrisonburg City centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Harrisonburg City
Harrisonburg City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties and more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harrisonburg City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harrisonburg City growing, and who is moving in?
Harrisonburg City has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harrisonburg City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harrisonburg City, month by month
Harrisonburg City sees roughly 82 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 Harrisonburg City
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harrisonburg City
Schools across Harrisonburg City average a B−, better than 71% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stone Spring ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Pleasant Valley ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Waterman ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wilbur S. Pence MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Thomas Harrison MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Skyline MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Turner Ashby HighA · 77% proficient
- Harrisonburg HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harrisonburg City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harrisonburg City 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 Harrisonburg City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harrisonburg City suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Harrisonburg City
Is Harrisonburg City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harrisonburg City ranks 422nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, heat safety, and biking, and lowest on noise and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harrisonburg City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $330,435. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,065 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is Harrisonburg City safe?
Yes, Harrisonburg City is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harrisonburg City?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 24. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
Is Harrisonburg City good for families?
Schools beat 71% of counties, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $775 a month.
Compare Harrisonburg City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harrisonburg City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harrisonburg City 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.
Harrisonburg City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harrisonburg City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harrisonburg City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harrisonburg City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harrisonburg City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harrisonburg City 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.