Best PlacesLouisa County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Louisa County, 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.
Louisa County ranks 500th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Louisa 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.
Louisa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Louisa County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of counties
- Household income$89,289 median, better than 86% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of counties
Where Louisa County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Short commute35.7 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 10% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Louisa County
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Louisa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,289, 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 Louisa County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Louisa County
Louisa County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Louisa County.
Who works in Louisa County, and how
Work in Louisa County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Louisa County
Louisa County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Louisa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Louisa County growing, and who is moving in?
Louisa County has grown about 23% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Richmond, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Louisa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Louisa County, month by month
Louisa County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Louisa County
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Louisa County
Schools across Louisa County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Goochland ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Moss-nuckols ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Jouett ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Louisa County MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Goochland MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Jackson P. Burley MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Louisa County HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Goochland HighA · 71% proficient
- Monticello HighA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Louisa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Louisa 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 Louisa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Louisa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Louisa County
Is Louisa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Louisa County ranks 500th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, big-city access, and tree cover, and lowest on walkability and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Louisa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,401. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $89,289 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Louisa County safe?
Yes, Louisa County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Louisa County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 27. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 26% of counties.
Is Louisa County good for families?
Schools beat 98% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $837 a month.
Compare Louisa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Louisa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Louisa 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.
Louisa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Louisa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Louisa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Louisa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Louisa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Louisa 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.