Best PlacesKempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach, 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.
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach ranks 2,717th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
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.
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
Where Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,215; 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 Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach's effective rate of 0.79%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach.
Who works in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach, and how
Work in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 10 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach, month by month
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
Schools across Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach average an A−, better than 92% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Kempsville MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Larkspur MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Bayside 6th Grade CampusB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Kempsville HighA · 74% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach 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 Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach
Is Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach ranks 2,717th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on state finances and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $312,115. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $79,215 median income, cost of living beats 66% of neighborhoods.
Is Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach safe?
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach is safer than 32% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $575 per resident a year.
Compare Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach 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.
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kempsville Gardens, Virginia Beach 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.