Best PlacesLynchburg City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lynchburg City, 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.
Lynchburg City ranks 1,164th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lynchburg City
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.
Lynchburg City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lynchburg City ranks high
- TransitBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of counties
Where Lynchburg City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lynchburg City
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lynchburg City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,937, 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 Lynchburg City's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Lynchburg City
Lynchburg City runs younger 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 Lynchburg City.
Who works in Lynchburg City, and how
Work in Lynchburg City centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Lynchburg City
Lynchburg City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties and more parkland per resident than 65% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lynchburg City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lynchburg City growing, and who is moving in?
Lynchburg City has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lynchburg, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lynchburg City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lynchburg City, month by month
Lynchburg City sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Lynchburg City
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lynchburg City
Schools across Lynchburg City average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Thomas Jefferson ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Paul Munro ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Sandusky ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle For InnovationB+ · 52% proficient
- Linkhorne MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
- E.c. Glass HighA− · 60% proficient
- Heritage HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lynchburg City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lynchburg City 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 Lynchburg City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lynchburg City suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lynchburg City
Is Lynchburg City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lynchburg City ranks 1,164th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lynchburg City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,798. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $62,937 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Lynchburg City safe?
Lynchburg City is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $504 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lynchburg City?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 26. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
Is Lynchburg City good for families?
Schools beat 75% of counties, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $602 a month.
Compare Lynchburg City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lynchburg City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lynchburg City 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.
Lynchburg City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lynchburg City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lynchburg City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lynchburg City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lynchburg City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lynchburg City 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.