Best PlacesLancaster County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lancaster County, 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.
Lancaster County ranks 2,012th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lancaster County
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.
Lancaster County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lancaster County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
Where Lancaster County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lancaster County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lancaster County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,164, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Lancaster County's effective rate of 0.50%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lancaster County
Lancaster County 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 Lancaster County.
Who works in Lancaster County, and how
Work in Lancaster County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lancaster County
Lancaster County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties. The coast is about 6 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lancaster County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lancaster County growing, and who is moving in?
Lancaster County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Northumberland County, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lancaster County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lancaster County, month by month
Lancaster County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Lancaster County
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lancaster County
Schools across Lancaster County average a C+, better than 48% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northumberland ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Lancaster PrimaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northumberland MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Lancaster MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Northumberland HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Lancaster HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lancaster County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lancaster County 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 Lancaster County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lancaster County
Is Lancaster County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lancaster County ranks 2,012th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lancaster County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $334,155. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $72,164 median income, cost of living beats 53% of counties.
Is Lancaster County safe?
Lancaster County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
Compare Lancaster County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lancaster County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lancaster County 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.
Lancaster County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lancaster County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lancaster County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lancaster County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lancaster County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lancaster County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.