Best PlacesKelsa, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kelsa, 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.
Kelsa ranks 42,959th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kelsa
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.
Kelsa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kelsa ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
Where Kelsa ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$26,736 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kelsa
A household needs to earn about $16,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kelsa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $26,736, 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 Kelsa's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Kelsa
Kelsa 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 Kelsa.
Who works in Kelsa, and how
Work in Kelsa centers on other services and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kelsa
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kelsa.
What the weather is like in Kelsa, month by month
Kelsa sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Kelsa
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kelsa
Schools across Kelsa average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hurley Elementary/middleB · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Hurley HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kelsa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kelsa 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 Kelsa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kelsa
Is Kelsa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kelsa ranks 42,959th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, a strong job market, and tree cover, and lowest on health outcomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kelsa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $62,400. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $26,736 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Kelsa safe?
Kelsa is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
Compare Kelsa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kelsa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kelsa 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.
Kelsa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kelsa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kelsa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kelsa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kelsa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kelsa 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.