Best PlacesHerndon, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Herndon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Herndon ranks 58th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Herndon
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.
Herndon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Herndon ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Household income$170,624 median, better than 96% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of cities
Where Herndon ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 8% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Herndon
A household needs to earn about $181,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Herndon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $170,624; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Herndon's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Herndon
Herndon runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Herndon.
Who works in Herndon, and how
Work in Herndon centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Herndon
Herndon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. The coast is about 31 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Herndon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Herndon, month by month
Herndon sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Herndon
Washington Dulles International sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Herndon
Schools across Herndon average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rosa Lee Carter ElementaryA+ · 87% proficient
- Oak Hill ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Navy ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carson MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Thoreau MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Stone Hill MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakton HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Madison HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Chantilly HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Herndon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Herndon 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 Herndon against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Herndon suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of cities and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Herndon
Is Herndon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Herndon ranks 58th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Herndon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $678,123. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $170,624 median income, cost of living beats 87% of cities.
Is Herndon safe?
Yes, Herndon is safer than 98% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Herndon?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is Herndon good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $1,512 a month.
Compare Herndon with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Herndon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Herndon 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.
Herndon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Herndon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Herndon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Herndon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Herndon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Herndon 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.