Best Neighborhoods in Lake Ridge, VA
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Ridge, 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.
Lake Ridge ranks 303rd of 2,098 U.S. small cities on the BestNeighborhood index, and 24th of 54 Virginia small cities. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
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Map of the best neighborhoods in Lake Ridge
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.
Lake Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Ridge ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 93% of small cities
- Household income$135,190 median, better than 85% of small cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 75% of small cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 72% of small cities
- Local economyBetter than 76% of small cities
Where Lake Ridge ranks low
- Short commute35.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of small cities
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of small cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of small cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 32% of small cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of small cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Ridge
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $135,190, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.7% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-08-20 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 Lake Ridge's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Ridge
Lake Ridge 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 Lake Ridge.
Who works in Lake Ridge, and how
Work in Lake Ridge centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake Ridge
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lake Ridge, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Ridge, month by month
Lake Ridge sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Lake Ridge
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lake Ridge
Schools across Lake Ridge average an A, better than 93% of small cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sangster ElementaryA+ · 98% proficient
- Fairview ElementaryA · 86% proficient
- Westridge ElementaryA− · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- South County MiddleA · 84% proficient
- Louise A. Benton MiddleA− · 81% proficient
- Lake Ridge MiddleB+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Charles J. Colgan Sr. HighA · 89% proficient
- Lake Braddock SecondaryB+ · 87% proficient
- Robinson SecondaryB+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Ridge 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 Lake Ridge against the other 2,097 small cities.
Who Lake Ridge suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of small cities and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lake Ridge
Is Lake Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Ridge ranks 303rd of 2,098 small cities, and 24th of 54 Virginia small cities. It scores highest on good schools, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $492,969. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $135,190 median income, cost of living beats 75% of small cities.
Is Lake Ridge safe?
Yes, Lake Ridge is safer than 72% of small cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Ridge?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 26. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of small cities.
Is Lake Ridge good for families?
Schools beat 93% of small cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $1,333 a month.
Compare Lake Ridge with other small cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Ridge 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.
Lake Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Ridge 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.