Best PlacesJamaica, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jamaica, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jamaica ranks 29,373rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Jamaica
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.
Jamaica's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jamaica ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
Where Jamaica ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Jamaica
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jamaica home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $65,909; 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 Jamaica's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Jamaica
Jamaica runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jamaica.
Who works in Jamaica, and how
Work in Jamaica centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Jamaica
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Jamaica, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jamaica, month by month
Jamaica sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Jamaica
Richmond International sits about 36 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 Jamaica
Schools across Jamaica average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Middlesex ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. Clare Walker MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Middlesex HighA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jamaica school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jamaica 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 Jamaica against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Jamaica
Is Jamaica a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jamaica ranks 29,373rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jamaica expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,500. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $65,909 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Jamaica safe?
Jamaica is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
Compare Jamaica with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jamaica. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jamaica 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.
Jamaica detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jamaica: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jamaica: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jamaica: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jamaica: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jamaica 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.