Best PlacesLoves Mill, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Loves Mill, 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.
Loves Mill ranks 23,837th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Loves Mill
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.
Loves Mill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Loves Mill ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap childcare$560 a month, better than 86% of towns
Where Loves Mill ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$50,140 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Loves Mill
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Loves Mill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,140, 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 Loves Mill'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Loves Mill
Loves Mill 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 Loves Mill.
Who works in Loves Mill, and how
Work in Loves Mill centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, 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 Loves Mill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Loves Mill.
What the weather is like in Loves Mill, month by month
Loves Mill sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Loves Mill
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Loves Mill
Schools across Loves Mill average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rhea Valley ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Chilhowie ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Damascus MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Chilhowie MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Holston HighA · 75% proficient
- Chilhowie HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Loves Mill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Loves Mill 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 Loves Mill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Loves Mill
Is Loves Mill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Loves Mill ranks 23,837th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Loves Mill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,135. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $50,140 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Loves Mill safe?
Yes, Loves Mill is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare Loves Mill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Loves Mill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Loves Mill 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.
Loves Mill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Loves Mill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Loves Mill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Loves Mill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Loves Mill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Loves Mill 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.