Best PlacesIdlewilde, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Idlewilde, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Idlewilde ranks 6,929th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Idlewilde
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.
Idlewilde's strengths and weaknesses
Where Idlewilde ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
Where Idlewilde ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Idlewilde
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Idlewilde home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,350, 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 Idlewilde's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Idlewilde
Idlewilde's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Idlewilde.
Who works in Idlewilde, and how
Work in Idlewilde centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Idlewilde
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Idlewilde.
What the weather is like in Idlewilde, month by month
Idlewilde sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Idlewilde
The nearest airport, Greenbrier Valley, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 144 miles away.
The best schools in and around Idlewilde
Schools across Idlewilde average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountain View ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clifton MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Alleghany HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Idlewilde school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Idlewilde 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 Idlewilde against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Idlewilde
Is Idlewilde a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Idlewilde ranks 6,929th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Idlewilde expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,500. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $94,350 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Idlewilde safe?
Idlewilde is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
Compare Idlewilde with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Idlewilde. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Idlewilde 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.
Idlewilde detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Idlewilde: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Idlewilde: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Idlewilde: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Idlewilde: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Idlewilde 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.